NetGalley ARC | Castles of England

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐1/2

I love a good ghost story, but that is not what I was expecting here so it kind of threw me off. I was expecting a book about the history of castles in England, from their beginnings up to present day. We get that here, but we also gets tons of stories of mysteries - unsolved murders, deaths of prisoners, executions, and so on.

I was anticipating much more in regards to physical histories and family histories, and there really was so much more that was paranormal. You might think it is weird that I am so hung up on that part, but it's just not what I was looking for from this book, so I think that's why I was honestly kind of annoyed.

The origin of the castle, or castellum in Latin, is so deeply imbedded in the history of England. You can't discuss the country's history without an in-depth focus on these structures. Castles are part of the landscape, and have been for 1,000 years. To not see one is far more strange.

Luckily there are so many to choose from, and whether you prefer crumbling ruins or castles that transport you back to the middle ages into a still-functioning relic of the period, everyone will find some castles of interest here.

Even this review is hard to write and I am struggling with it. The book just wasn't what I expected, and had such a heavy focus on the myths and legends, usually paranormal. I wanted to know more about architecture, builders, etc. I would have also loved more photographs.

Ireland

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

I picked this one up on the trip Mom and I took to Ireland in 2010. I know that while i might take 1,000 pictures, my skills are somewhat limited and having books like this are a nice comfort when I miss the places I've been and don't know if I will get to see them again.

There really is not much to review in the way of actual text. The book is divided into the the four provinces - Ulster, Connacht, Munster, and Leinster. It then covers the beautiful landscapes, ruins, and villages of the provinces. I loved seeing places that I'd already been to, and also new places I could add to my list for next time. I also was a little disappointed in some of the things left out - such as any mention of Titanic when looking around Cork. But that is my own personal preference and the 15 year old girl in me will always look for little mentions like that.

The photographs are simply beautiful, though they can never do justice to the real thing. Ireland is beyond beautiful, though also depressing at the same time. Not so much in Dublin, which is always busy much like any other capital city. Outside the city though, the countryside is quite different - especially when you see miles and miles of penny walls, with famine houses dotting the landscape in between modern homes.

I especially liked the shots of the places I was lucky enough to visit - the Burren, Blarney Castle, Newgrange and the Tall Cross at Monasterboice. My only wish is that there would have been an aerial shot of Newgrange to show off the amazing hills, or a full shot of the Tall Cross to see each panel. All photos belong to me.

The Tall Cross (Muiredach's Cross) at Monasterboice and our wonderful tour guide. Our reservations were not in the system but I had the paperwork from Expedia. She insisted we were going when one of the other guides said there was not room.

Mom and I at Newgrange.

Our first glimpse of Newgrange from the bus.

Kissing the Blarney Stone. Worth the climb and the terror of hanging off the side of a ruined castle.

Highly recommended, wonderful book.

Haunted Castles & Houses of Scotland

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

Yet another neat little book I picked up when Mom and I were in Scotland in 2009. It is a fun little romp around the country to all the haunted nooks and crannies that this beautiful land has to offer.

The book is divided into several sections within each chapter, starting with 'Ladies of Different Colors' - mainly the 'green', 'white' or 'grey' ladies supposedly seen haunting various locations. The legends behind these ghosts are further divided into how they may have met their ends - suicides, misadventure, murder, etc. I love that there was an entire section, nearly ten pages, devoted to locations said to be haunted by Mary, Queen of Scots. One must have to think she is still so busy in the afterlife, given all the places she's been seen; have to get those tourist dollars!

There are two more sections dealing with the supernatural, one regarding portents and brownies, and then the final section relating to ghostly men that haunt locales also. It is of no surprise to me that Darnley supposedly haunts Kirk O' Field - what a shame that nothing survives, even in ruins.

In addition to the stories, there is also a wealth of information in the form of further reading, maps of where the ghosts are supposedly located, and a list of the castles and houses mentioned in the book. This list is especially useful as it denotes whether the location is open to the public and if so, gives contact information and times of year to visit. Quite useful if you are planning a haunted vacation!

My only complaint is that some of the stories were so incredibly short, it seemed almost a waste to include them, unless they supplemented a more detailed story. There were also some stories that got repetitive due to lack of information and I felt like those did not add much to the collection.

Over all however, I can recommend this one to those who love a good ghost story!

The Tower: The Tumultuous History of the Tower of London from 1078

Rating: 3 Stars - Did Not Finish

Review:

I had to keep reminding myself that this edition was published in 1979. It was not easy and I often found myself frustrated with some of the things Wilson wrote as fact. On the other hand, he also puts forth some of those same sentiments in more recent books, so, there's that to deal with as well (he is NOT a fan of Mary Tudor). As a result, I waver back and forth between two and three stars. The reason I did not finish this one is not due to the dryness of the writing, but to lack of interest in the periods following the reign of James VI/I. I did give it a go, but decided there are too many other books waiting for me.

The text was good, not great. Much of that is owed to the fact that it was written so long ago and the way we look at these eras is quite different, even from the way historians viewed them 40 years ago. I feel like this text would be much stronger if it was updated - not only to reflect more accurate facts as we know them now about those early periods, but so the Tower can be presented now up to it current status and function. As an aside, it still pains me that when Mom and I were in London as part of our UK Extravaganza, we had such short time in London itself that we were not able to see the Tower. This is, without a doubt, #2 on my list of attractions to visit (#1 encompassing any and every place still in existence connected to Eleanor of Aquitaine, of course.)

The many factual inaccuracies were distracting, despite my own attempt to remember it was 40 years old. For example, Wilson refers to de Burgh as being the man who held the most authority in Henry III's reign, due to him being an experienced soldier and administrator. To that I had to say, "Um, helloooo, ever heard of this man by the name of WILLIAM MARSHAL?!" I do have quite a soft spot in my heart for that ol' soldier and always like to see him get his due.

Moving on to the Tudor reign, there were a few issues I took with statements Wilson made as well. Now, I have never made it a secret that have no good feelings about Anne Boleyn. Catherine will always be the rightful and true queen to me, as Mary was always the rightful heir. That does mean that I support everything Mary did during her reign, but I do think everything that happened to her during her childhood once Henry initiated the divorce need to be weighed greatly in understanding how that impacted her. No one can really be surprised in how tightly she clung to her faith and viewed Catholicism as the only religion, given its treatment in her lifetime as a means to an end for Henry to get what he wanted. I know this is not a popular opinion among some and that is fine, but Wilson's assessment of Mary's reign as an "appalling blunder" by the English when they supported Mary instead of her cousin Lady Jane Grey is inaccurate in my eyes. Given a closer and less biased look, there were many aspects of Mary's reign that actually proved quite successful. While that is another debate for another post and I won't go into detail here, I might recommend The First Queen of England: The Myth of Bloody Mary for anyone interested in what I am suggesting. Continuing along this path, I was confused when Wilson states that Catherine Parr died in childbirth "or probably before". Everything I have read thus far indicates she died after giving birth to a daughter, who also did not live long - perhaps a year or two. I am curious as to where Wilson got this idea and if that was accepted as fact in the 1970s, where new information came from since then to change what we know now. He also cites tuberculosis as the cause of death for Edward, which gave way to Mary's reign. While it is certainly one of the theories, there have been others put forth as well. Again I wonder if this could be that TB was accepted in the 1970s and only with new information coming to light have we changed our thinking?

There are positives to the book, do not get me wrong. I found the illustrations included to be useful. Another reason I would like to see a new edition to the book would be to see new photographs of the Tower added in comparison. It would be very interesting to see drawings of the original structure, compared to how it looks now.

I realize that the issues I have touched on had more to do with the people connected to the Tower than the Tower itself. All in all, this is because this book was as much about the people who inhabited the the fortress as the buildings themselves. This I can appreciate, as it covered all of the periods in England's history that are among my most favorite (and more - if you have been reading my reviews for a while, you know I don't have much interest beyond the reign of James VI/I). I wish there would be an update, though if you can keep in mind the age, then I can recommend with some hesitancy. It is very dry at times after all and that could be very off-putting for those who are less interested in the times.

Life in a Tudor Palace and Life in a Medieval Castle

Rating: 4 Stars each

Review:

These are such brief reads (and both part of the Life series) that I can hardly write a full review, so I am reviewing them together. That is not meant to be disparaging however, because these are simply slim volumes that focuses on a very specific part of history - Tudor palace life and medieval castle life. I really enjoyed these one for what they were, brief glimpses at history. One of the only things I will say negatively is that both books would have done better had there been illustrations to go along with. This would have been helpful for those of us not familiar with the layouts of the buildings.

I took issue also with a statement from the medieval castle book where the author said reading and writing were typically left for girls. This seems strange, as men were expected to be able to do those things in order to conduct their business. Some educators even thought that reading was too taxing on the brain for women, so...

Ending on a positive note, I love that this short little medieval castle book gives a shout out to William Marshal, one of my medieval heroes. Lately I have read much longer books dealing with that period of time and this great knight gets no mention at all. Yet here his name pops up and I was glad to see it.

Recommended for anyone even with a slight interest. These are quick reads, still packed with tons of interesting information.

Citadels of Power: The Castle in History and Archeology

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

So, I love castles. I love looking at pictures of them, watching documentaries about them, reading books about them and, above all, seeing them in person. I've been lucky enough to see a handful so far in the UK and Ireland, and can not wait to visit more in the future.

Naturally then, when I see what I think is a book about castles, I have to give it a read. I found this in the library catalog and reserved it immediately, not paying attention to the 'audio' label until later. No biggie, I figured, I can do a book on cd - then Eleanor can learn too! So, imagine my surprise to find it was not actually a book on cd, but a lecture series by Professor Finan. So, I guess technically I should not be reviewing it here because it is not a book, but it was wonderful!

Now, it was not perfect by any means, and there were portions that were somewhat repetitive, but I still enjoyed this very much. The lecture covered a variety of topics, ranging from the different kinds of castles, their place in society and the landscape, as well as castles specific to England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and castles built in the Holy Land by various Crusaders. I found that I knew many facts presented already, though was not nearly as familiar with the earthen and timber castles as presented in the second lecture.

Additionally, Professor Finan clearly cares very deeply about the subjects he is presenting, and even says that the last lecture pertaining to the end of castle-building is his least favorite because he loves the topic so much. While he is not necessarily the most exciting lecturer to listen to, it is worthwhile to hear the material he presents.

There is also a study guide included that has summaries, questions, suggested readings, other books of interest, and suggested websites for each of the 14 lectures. These are available through the company that produces the lecture series (free, but with a shipping charge of course), and I am considering ordering one.

Overall, highly recommended. Very interesting series and I am curious to see what other lectures are offered by The Modern Scholar.

As always, here are MY favorite castles (all photos taken by me in 2009/2010)...

Inside the gate of Stirling Castle (Scotland, 2009)

Edinburgh Castle (Scotland, 2009)

At Windsor Castle (England, 2009)

Blarney Castle (Ireland, 2010)

Malahide Castle (Ireland, 2010)

Bunratty Castle (Ireland, 2010)

(The remains of) Dublin Castle (Ireland, 2010)

Castles

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

Not great, not terrible. Kind of dry at times. Great photos and illustrations, but seriously, no Edinburgh?? No Blarney?? Two amazing castles that deserved attention. No Windsor? No Stirling? Come on!

Additionally:

I decided to give this a little more attention - and also post pictures of my own favorite castles, because I love castles. I absolutely LOVE castles and have seen some awesome ones in Ireland, England, and Scotland. There are many more I want to see, but I have a good start.

This books really is informative, but it just read like a textbook sometimes and was very hard to continue - but it is by no means a long book. There are newer books available I'm sure - I hope - as we discover more and more during excavations. 

I was lucky enough to see several castles in my European travels in 2009 and 2010. When Mom and I traveled to the UK, we saw Edinburgh, Stirling, and Windsor (England was a short, short trip and much of Windsor was actually closed to tourists while the Queen was knighting people that day). Then in 2010 we traveled to Ireland, where we saw Dublin, Bunratty, Malahide, and Blarney. All amazing in their own right, though I am partial to ruins like Blarney, not furnished castles like Malahide. All photograpghs were taken by me (or my mom, or in the case where we are pictured together, a helpful but unnamed fellow tourist) in 2009 and 2010 and all belong to me.

Here are a few gems that should have been included in this book:

Our first view off the bus on the Royal Mile, after having landed, dropped our stuff at our B&B (The Ben Doran, AWESOME!), our first morning in Edinburgh (2009)

Edinburgh (2009)

Edinburgh (2009)

Urquhart Castle (2009)

Urquhart Castle (2009)

Entering the grounds of Stirling - MY FAVORITE! (2009)

Stirling (2009)

Stirling (2009)

Holyrood Palace (Okay, so not really a castle, but still awesome) (2009)

Windsor (2009)

Windsor (2009)

Blarney (2010)

Blarney (2010)

Blarney lots of small passageways to look around in! (2010)

Bunratty (2010)

Bunratty (2010)

Dublin (2010)

Dublin - this is about all that remains of the castle above-ground unfortunately. We were able to see the parts that are still underground though too (2010)

Dublin - The original castle stairs are now below street level (2010)

Dublin - remains of a city wall, below street level (2010)

Malahide (2010)

Malahide - Mom and I (2010) - the nice man who took our photo was quite the amateur photog. He kept directing us and his wife kept apologizing (she's the one standing to the left). It was quite funny, and we got this great picture.