Anatomy of the Castle
John Gibson
Metro Books
Nonfiction, History
***
DESCRIPTION: Castles have a romanticized place in the public mind. Associated with fairy tales of knights and princesses, few stop to remember that castles were built mainly for military and political reasons, and those living in them were more concerned with survival than questing for lost relics. This book describes the history of the castle in various parts of the Old World.
REVIEW: Yet another half-price wonder... I got it for the pictures, and I was hoping for more of an actual "anatomy" of castles here - a breakdown of how they were put together, maybe with floor plans or diagrams or something else useful when visualizing such structures (or writing about them.) I didn't get that, but I did get some nice pictures, and the narrative - though dry for my tastes - contains a fair amount of information. Not a bad reference, I suppose, but not as good as I was hoping when I bought it.
You might also enjoy:
Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight (David Edge & John Miles Paddock, Nonfiction - The history and development of armor and armaments)
The Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places (Robert Ingpen and Philip Wilkinson, Nonfiction - Archaeological wonders from around the world)
Knights (Andrea Hopkins, Nonfiction - The truth behind the legends of medieval knights and their code of chivalry)
Arms and Armor in the Art Institute of Chicago (Walter J. Karcheski, Jr., Nonfiction - The museum's extensive collection described)
An Introduction to Heraldry (Stephan Oliver, Nonfiction - An overview of heraldic devices and coats of arms)
The Art of War (Sun Tzu, Nonfiction - The original classic treatise on warfare and strategy)
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