annieb123's Review of Abandoned Castles (Abandoned)

by Kieron Connolly

An ancient hilltop fortress. A crusader citadel in the West Bank. A fairytale medieval castle fallen into ruin. From ancient times to the end of the nineteenth century, Abandoned Castles explores more than 100 forts, castles and defensive strongholds from all around the globe. From medieval Japanese castles to Spanish colonial forts in West
Africa to Norman stone keeps, the book ranges widely across history.
Many have long ceased to serve a purpose, but then, like the crusader castle Krak de Chevaliers in Syria today, their impenetrable walls become the site of more fighting centuries later. Others, such as the Cathar Chateau de Queribus in southern France, stand high above peaceful coastlines, testament to the wars of the past. Some are beautiful, others brutal, but each tells a story about the way we fought and defended ourselves, and how the building has survived and aged, long after the people it was built by are gone.
With 150 outstanding colour photographs, Abandoned Castles is a brilliant pictorial examination of castles, forts, keeps, and defensive fortifications from the ancient world to the end of the nineteenth century.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Abandoned Castles is a pictorial collection of hundreds of abandoned and ruined castles located all over the world. Released in 2017 by Amber Books, it's 224 pages and available in hardcover format.

This is a beautifully presented collection of fortification/castle ruins in locations from Asia to Europe, Africa to the Americas. The photographs are accompanied by a very brief sidebar explanatory blurb with some history and context tidbits. I found quite a lot of good info for further reading. The pictorial subjects are arranged roughly chronologically from ancient times to the dark ages, early medieval, late medieval, early modern, and imperial eras.

There is no index or full subject table of contents; it's more a book for flipping through.

This would be a superlative choice for lovers of history or the subject matter (castles and fortifications). There's something so compelling about what was originally a dominant permanent building/settlement being turned into ruins by abandonment or catastrophe and the passage of time.

Four stars. The lack of a subject list or index was a detraction. For readers who want a beautiful coffee table book, this would be a 5 star selection.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Abandoned Castles (Abandoned)

by Kieron Connolly

Reviewed by annieb123 on Dec 6, 2019

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