A History & Guide to Scottish History

A History & Guide to Scottish Castles written by Jenna Maxwell and published by Pen & Sword Books - £22.00 - Hardback - Pages 220

At one time, Scotland was home to more than 4,000 castles. It’s an extraordinary

number for such a small country and today, around 3,000 still stand.

Some are world famous, others have inspired great works of literature, while others have lit up the silver screen.

There are grand, ticketed visitor attractions but there are others which are unassuming structures so tucked away that only the locals seem to know about them.

From the triangular-shaped Caerlaverock Castle in Dumfries and Galloway to the imposing New Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, and from the magnificent fortress that dominates the Edinburgh skyline to the haunting battlements that stand on the banks of Loch Ness, each tower tells a story, every turret holds a secret and, together, they span centuries of fascinating Scottish history.

A History and Guide to Scottish Castles explores the history, architecture, and legends of some of these fascinating fortresses and looks at why they are so appealing to visitors today.

A History & Guide to Scottish is a fantastic little book that explores all the castles in Scotland, from the forgotten and neglected to the immaculate and well-known. Having spent 10 years of my childhood living in the fair Scottish land, I have visited a few of these castles. An excellent book that separates the castles into regions and then supplies great local history connected to the castles and provided with the excellent little stories of history and suspense. Visiting Crathes Castle as a child always amused me with the story of the ghost in the window, and finding it in this book, only for the ghost to move to the fireplace in the book. An excellent book with lots of information contained within, a really interesting read and ideal as a guide.

Landscapes of the Norman Conquest

Landscapes of the Norman Conquest written by Trevor Rowley and

published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 368

For a long time, the Norman Conquest has been viewed as a turning point in English

history; an event which transformed English identity, sovereignty, kingship, and culture.

The years between 1066 and 1086 saw the largest transfer of property ever seen in

English History, comparable in scale, if not greater, than the revolutions in France in

1789 and Russia in 1917. This transfer and the means to achieve it had a profound

effect upon the English and Welsh landscape, an impact that is clearly visible almost

1,000 years afterwards.

Although there have been numerous books examining different aspects of the British landscape, this is the first to look specifically at the way in which the Normans shaped our towns and countryside. The castles, abbeys, churches and cathedrals built in the new Norman Romanesque style after 1066 represent the most obvious legacy of what was effectively a colonial take-over of England. Such phenomena furnished a broader landscape that was fashioned to intimidate and demonstrate the Norman dominance of towns and villages.

The devastation that followed the Conquest, characterised by the ‘Harrying of the North’, had a long-term impact in the form of new planned settlements and agriculture. The imposition of Forest Laws, restricting hunting to the Norman king and the establishment of a military landscape in areas such as the Welsh Marches, had a similar impact on the countryside.

This is an extraordinary book, the amount of detail, research and knowledge is fantastic. To me as someone interested in local history and knowledge this book is perfect and packed with detail. It was really good to find out how the Normans would want to put their own stamp on a new country, just like other groups that have invaded previously. Even something little like learning how the Normans wanted a presence in most towns, it was good to read the reasons why and how. Or learning about burghs, hundreds & wapentakes, and how land was divided up on a Norman basis. The book contains a really good number of photographs both black & white and colour, along with good detailed maps. The bibliography was also very useful and I will be diving into that too for more local research. As I said I found this book to be a really good read and very informative, I will definitely be re-reading this one and can only recommend this book to everyone.

Castle Builders

Castle Builders written by Malcolm Hislop and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £18.99 - Hardback - Pages 272

In Castle Builders, Malcolm Hislop looks at the hugely popular subject of castles from

the unusual perspective of design and construction. In this general introduction to the

subject, we discover something of the personalities behind their creation - the architects

and craftsmen - and, furthermore, the techniques they employed, and how style and

technology were disseminated. Castle Builders takes both a thematic and a chronological

approach to the design and construction of castles, providing the reader with clear lines

of development. Themes include earth, timber and stone construction techniques, the

evolution of the great tower, the development of military engineering, the progression of

domestic accommodation, and the degree to which aesthetics contributed to castle design.

This book looks at the creation and building of castles and types of castles from all around Europe. This book looks at the design, reasons, materials, fortifications, living conditions, military, aesthetics, and even the personalities of those commissioning the building and how this is impressed upon the building. The book is also full of great diagrams, drawings and photographs which really do complement the text and just help advance the learning from the book. I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish and loved all the design, engineering and the process of how castles were built. As a fan of castles full stop, this was like a dream book. All I can say is that if you are a fan of castles, you will love this book.

The Fall of Roman Britain and Why We Speak English

The Fall of Roman Britain and Why We Speak English written by John Lambshead

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 192

The end of empire in the island of Great Britain was both more abrupt and more complete than in any of the other European Roman provinces. When the fog clears and Britain re-enters the historical record, it is, unlike other former European provinces of the Western Empire, dominated by a new culture that speaks a language that is neither Roman nor indigenous British Brythonic and with a pagan religion that owes nothing to Romanitas or native British practices.

Other ex-Roman provinces of the Western Empire in Europe showed two consistent features conspicuously absent from the lowlands of Britain: the dominant language was derived from the local Vulgar Latin and the dominant religion was a Christianity that looked towards Rome. This leads naturally to the question: ‘what was different about Britannia?’ A further anomaly in our understanding lies in the significant dating mismatch between historical and archaeological data of the Germanic migrations, and the latest genetic evidence. The answer to England’s unique early history may lie in resolving this paradox.

John Lambshead summarizes the latest data gathered by historians, archaeologists, climatologists and biologists and synthesizes it all into a fresh new explanation.

This book about the Romans leaving Britain looks at the situation through a number of questions or essays such as the molecular make-up of Roman Britain, why we speak English, the book looks at the science of people or populations moving around, societies and how they evolve. I found the book to be a fascinating one in what it hoped to find and what it would claim to have found. I won’t really say much more as some of the answers being revealed would ruin the book. Some of the conclusions the book comes to might not be surprising and anyone educated to a decent level could have probably worked them out. If you love this period of time I would certainly recommend the book, even if you were a beginner or an archeologist.