{"id":3259,"date":"2013-02-02T06:17:31","date_gmt":"2013-02-02T04:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.military-history.us\/?p=3259"},"modified":"2013-01-31T09:17:54","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T07:17:54","slug":"book-review-anatomy-of-the-castle-by-john-gibson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/2013\/02\/book-review-anatomy-of-the-castle-by-john-gibson\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Anatomy of the Castle by John Gibson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anatomy of the Castle<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0by John\u00c2\u00a0Gibson\u00c2\u00a0is perhaps the best book describing Castles aimed at the general reader that I have ever read. \u00c2\u00a0The author\u00c2\u00a0manages\u00c2\u00a0to make the somewhat technical and dry language of describing castles and their construction lovely and entertaining.<\/p>\n

It is a coffee\u00c2\u00a0table\u00c2\u00a0sized book that is jam packed with beautiful color photos of castles from all over\u00c2\u00a0Europe\u00c2\u00a0and the Middle East. \u00c2\u00a0There are 200\u00c2\u00a0pages\u00c2\u00a0with a glossary, index, and\u00c2\u00a0bibliography. \u00c2\u00a0It is divided into 6 chronological chapters with a lengthy introduction that describes the development of the art of fortification up to the development of the first castles. \u00c2\u00a0He also\u00c2\u00a0includes\u00c2\u00a0a chapter describing\u00c2\u00a0what\u00c2\u00a0living in a castle must have truly been like. \u00c2\u00a0The glossary is short but helpful as it includes all the technical terms that are easily misused.<\/p>\n

John Gibson has produced work about castles and their construction that is both informative and\u00c2\u00a0entertaining. \u00c2\u00a0He deftly covers the\u00c2\u00a0castles\u00c2\u00a0invention and development over a period of about 1,000 years and ties the castle into both hat came before and what came after in the art of fortification. \u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Along the way he dispels some myths about castles, such as that they were dark dank places or the opposite that they were full of light and warmth. \u00c2\u00a0He\u00c2\u00a0gives\u00c2\u00a0the lie to both\u00c2\u00a0notions\u00c2\u00a0and establishes that the truth lay somewhere in between. \u00c2\u00a0He also points out that dungeons as described in popular literature did not\u00c2\u00a0really\u00c2\u00a0exist although there were some places in castles that were used as prisons including entire castle at times. \u00c2\u00a0What was good for keeping people out was also pretty good at\u00c2\u00a0keeping\u00c2\u00a0them in when used for that purpose.<\/p>\n

Aside from the quality of the photos the thing about this book that I enjoyed the most was the\u00c2\u00a0quality\u00c2\u00a0of the writing. \u00c2\u00a0I never got bored while reading this book and the illustrations are well\u00c2\u00a0placed\u00c2\u00a0to illuminate the text. \u00c2\u00a0There are\u00c2\u00a0several\u00c2\u00a0fold-outs of significant castles that\u00c2\u00a0illustrate\u00c2\u00a0stages in castle development. \u00c2\u00a0This is a highly enjoyable read and I\u00c2\u00a0highly\u00c2\u00a0recommend\u00c2\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

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