Make models of castle buildings and little knights, and plan a medieval battle scene that uses the mini-launchers from other books in this series. All you need are everyday items and some adult help. Deploy your launchers on both sides of the castle, jump to your stations, and attack. Bite-sized facts explain how these parts of a castle worked in history too!
Through colorful illustrations and accounts of actual sieges in every chapter, this book describes how armies from medieval times up to the English Civil War attacked and besieged British castles and how changing weaponry shaped the defences we see the remains of today.
History comes alive in this incredible children's illustrated book about castles. Slicing through different areas of a medieval fortress, extraordinary views reveal the people busy inside, preparing for battle as an enemy army approaches. Packed with facts, you'll find out what it takes to build a massive 14th-century castle, dress a knight in armor, or prepare a feast fit for a king or queen. From the drawbridge to the dungeon, Cross-Sections Castle swarms with the people who keep the castle going--the workers, craftsmen, and servants. And, as you pore over every page, look out for the villainous spy. Is he in the well... the keep... the moat? No? Keep looking, he's there somewhere! Back in print after 20 years, you can now cheer on jousters, be entertained by a troubadour, and witness the gory details of a traitor's demise. This unique illustrated book for kids is not just the story of a castle; it brings medieval history to life.
"This book is the result of two most interesting, if rather laborious, journeys, devoted to castle-seeking, one in 1924, covering Wales and the English counties along the Welsh border; the other in 1925, devoted to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. [...] Of eighty castles described in full, all but six were carefully inspected, and recorded by my own note-book and my son's photographs. [...] The object of this book is to explain the historical and architectural interest of each castle, so that the visitor may appreciate its meaning." -- v, Preface.
Castles, Battles, and Bombs reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics—with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France’s decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today’s military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq. "In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."—Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly "This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."—Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics
Professor Carlton Jones, of Celtic Affairs at the Southeastern University in Atlanta, is taking a sabbatical leave to study castles in Wales. He is an expert on Welsh castles and, in particular, wants to study the Castle of the Scarlet Ghost, little known today, but dating back to King Henry IV of England. He arrives at a bed and breakfast house, which adjoins the ruins of the old castle. Anxious to get started, though it is late in the afternoon and stormy weather, he starts up the hill towards the castle. A blast of lightning and a broken tree bough knocks him to the ground, unconscious. He awakens in a strange mansion in the Fourteenth Century attended by a beautiful girl. The mansion belongs to the wealthy and powerful master, Owain Glyndwr, who becomes the greatest hero of Wales. Although Glyndwr is, at first, skeptical of the professor's story, they soon become good friends. Glyndwr organizes a resistance to the cruel English masters, and Jones, his assistant, does not reveal what history will produce. Eventually everything is lost, and in the last chapter, the castle gains its name. Along the way, Glyndwr rescues Lady Margaret from the Tower of London. Many battles are fought, won and lost, and Professor Jones and the beautiful Siriz fall in love. Although Glyndwr is Wales' greatest hero, little is known of his life. I have researched his history and visited Wales twice. There is an article on Owain Glyndwr in the 2001 April/May issue of British Heritage. It indicates the interest that the public has in Owain Glyndwr.
The Medieval Castle was first published in 1991. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.