Castles /anglais

by D.K. Publishing

Journey across the world and throughout history to discover the world's best and most unusual castles, and learn about their features, from the tallest turrets to the dingiest dungeons. Find out how castles have changed over time and what happened to the people who lived in them.

A glimpse into the history of different castles around the world, the dramatic battles to conquer them, and the weapons that defended and defeated them.

Travel through time and venture into the wonderful world of castles, from the extravagant châteaux of France, to the impenetrable fortresses of Japan.

Find out why castles were built and witness some of the most famous sieges in history. Trek across the world to visit castles perched on perilous clifftops and exotic islands. Meet the medieval rulers who built the grandest castles and forts, and the modern tycoons who splashed out money trying to replicate them.

Discover why the spiral staircases in castles always turned clockwise, and why their toilets always smelled so bad! And learn about the great lengths that prisoners would go to in order to escape...

This children's book takes you on an immersive adventure to a collection of castles each beautifully illustrated at a particular moment in history. See the world's best castles from a range of viewpoints, whether you are standing next to samurai warriors waiting to attack, or castle jesters entertaining the king. Castle is a fact-packed, modern look at a classic topic.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2020

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Bookworm86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book about Castles and everything based around them from food to animals to servants. Excellent illustrations. My 7 year old son enjoyed learning more about the medieval ages and have reserved more DK books from the library.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and fun read about many castles on 4 continents, covering years 1071 - 1929. It includes detailed illustrations of the castles, castle layouts, photos of the castles today, points out features of the castles, and recounts historical events as stories. It describes life inside the castles, including people, weapons, armor, rooms, and furniture.

Castles I liked
Windsor
Beaumaris
Bodiam
Goodrich
Berkeley
Scaligero
Neuschwanstein

Himeji
Kilkenny
Gravensteen
Mont-Saint-Michael
Osaka
Mendoza
Citadel of Qaitbay

Notes
In Wartburg Castle, Martin Luther went by pseudonym "Knight George" and grew a beard to disguise himself.

In 1917, British royal family changed their last name to Windsor, after Windsor Castle.

Page, squire, knight
• Page: Boys started knight training at 7. Did chores, delivered messages. Learned reading, writing, hunting, fighting, chivalry.
• Squire: At 14, page became squire. Was given specific jobs such as cleaning armor, serving at banquets. Continued training, and learned to fight in armor.
• Knight: At 21, squire could become knight. They were often sons of nobles, as armor was expensive.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about castles from many places and time periods, with short vignettes about the castles and illustrations with labels. I really liked that it didn't limit itself to western european castles, and that it included things like what it was defining as a castle as well as information about castle life, like the type of food and clothes.
If you know a 7-12 year old asking for "a book about castles", this is it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a big book full of information about castles from different countries and eras. Makes for interesting comparisons. What I found most interesting were the diagrams about the layouts of the various forts/citadels/castles. There are also double spreads about mediaeval life, warfare etc.

[Jay Gesin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, colorful book on castles with emphasis on both historical and modern information. As someone who always stops to read books on castles, I loved this book.