An interesting A to Z list of castles in English counties. Jam packed with information and historically significant events for each listing.

"A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England" is an incredibly gripping non-fiction read! It is throughly well-researched, and I found learning about the castles and history, through both images as well as text, to be very intriguing. I so hope to be able to visit many of these places in person someday, and plan to do more research on my own time as well!

Thank you so much to NetGalley Pen & Sword History for the ARC of this non-fiction book! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This book was well-written and filled with so much interesting information on the various castles. It covers the castles built between 1050 and 1500 and includes a handy glossary at the front of the book, a bibliography and a gazetteer. Illustrations and photos help the reader to visualize so much of what the author writes about, This would make a great addition to anyone's history or travel library.

Beautiful pictures and so much fun information. If you like British history and castles then you should for sure check this out!

This is a solid introductory resource on a fascinating topic! I've been blessed to visit England a number of times, and appreciated revisiting it through this book (especially whenever a familiar name--whether castle, person, or event--popped up). How fun, in particular, for Berwick-upon-Tweed to appear; I still distinctly remember passing through the town via train with my dad on our first trip to Great Britain (and we still kick ourselves for not exploring it, heh).

I was a little worried at first that the pictures were in black and white, but that ended up working out surprisingly well here. I only wish there were more pictures! :) (Always a balancing act, for sure.)

This book's strength is as a starting point, to trigger/prompt additional research; the introduction freely admits it is not exhaustive, nor could it be and succeed. It allows the reader to do their own research how they wish.

The text can be a bit dry at times, but that might just be me and my own preferences (especially perusing this on the heels of a few high-action fiction reads). So, that aside, a worthy endeavor that succeeds in what it set out to do.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Who knew? Who knew just how many medieval castles there were in England and how many of them are still there for the reader to see. Some are ruins but many exist, as they did so long ago. They sure knew how to build back then.

This is an excellent book for someone who wants to explore the past through the buildings. Some are in private hands but many are open to the public and very accessible. They are fascinating to explore, even the ones that have modernized over the centuries.

The pictures are black and white, which works well with the subject matter and there are some maps and diagrams accompanying the descriptions. The author even lists them in alphabetical order and then again by county. Certainly a good guide for those with a fascinating for the medieval. Four purrs and two paws up.

In this complex, packed compendium of medieval castles in England, Malcolm Hislop brings his knowledge and expertise to his readers. Organized alphabetically and supplemented with maps, photos, and architectural plans, Hislop’s focus on medieval castles contains an immense amount of historical, social, architectural, and geographic detail, with some castles having more information than others given longer and complexer histories. Hislop’s descriptions are concise, detailed, and fascinating, providing readers with new information for familiar and unfamiliar castles alike. The book does feel a little dense, lacking subheadings, but the images, maps, plans, and other visual elements break up the text and allow readers to properly visualize the various castles Hislop discusses throughout the book. Of course, this book only focuses on the medieval era, yet Hislop builds on extant scholarship by collecting all this information for readers; he could easily expand this topic into a series focusing on other nations or historical eras, providing a larger history of castles and their architectural evolution over the centuries. A fascinatingly detailed book full of incredible facts and details, Hislop’s book on English medieval castles is a must-read for fans of the era, and readers are sure to enjoy this architectural deep dive into the medieval world.

Great guide to medieval British castles. This is one I would definitely prefer in book format rather than digital, but still very interesting read

Wonderful and thoroughly engaging read, beautifully written with great accompanying photography, thoroughly recommend to anyone with an interest in history or castles or both

A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England is a very well written and annotated monograph on the history and features of medieval English fortified buildings by Dr. Malcolm Hislop. Due out 30th March 2024 from Pen & Sword, it's 304 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

The book is arranged with a useful glossary and an alphabetical gazetteer with short (paragraph length) descriptions, followed by a listing of the castles (arranged geographically) so the entries can be read in any order (there's a good table of contents, but no content index), and "armchair" travelers can read about the history of the locations they aspire to visit. The author's writing style is impressively engaging and not at all dry or academic and he does a grand job of including interesting tidbits about each castle's history and special characteristics.

The plates include facsimile historical documents, line drawings of floor plans and layouts, modern and archival photos of the buildings themselves, and other interesting minutiae. There's also a solid bibliography which will provide many hours of further reading for keen readers.

Five stars. This would make an excellent choice for public or home library acquisition as well as for fans of travel and history.

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

Malcolm Hislop, A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England, Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History, January 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley and Pen & Sword for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

A Guide to Medieval Castles of England must be packed in the luggage of anyone embarking on a tour that aims to include some of the most fascinating castles to be found in England. As I am familiar with the Wallingford Castle I thought a good test of the information in this book would be to investigate how this castle was covered. I was not disappointed. The overall assessment of the castle and grounds was honest and unlikely to lead to disappointment. But then, to the detail of the building that remains – what a delight. I felt as though I was back in Wallingford, climbing the uneven stairway, examining the door and its surrounds, looking out over the encompassing fields, and then walking back to the town through the cultivated land that is also part of this delightful spot. Reading this honest account suggests that there will be little to disappoint if this book is retained as guide.

The Guide is alphabetical. This is an approach that, although it results in the amount of information being uneven depending on the state in which the castle is now to be found, provides an easily accessible list of castles to visit. The details provide an honest and clear guide to what will be found – no surprises as I found when visiting a listed castle in another guide and found a few mounds of stones! Such remains can be interesting, but the surprise can be unpleasant. Malcolm Hislop ensures that this will not happen to the person who uses his guide.

Another disappointment that can be overcome by using this guide, is its useful information about whether castles are open to the public, or in private hands. Although it is necessary to search for further details, as open times in many buildings depend upon the season, to have general knowledge about accessibility makes an ideal start to research on a tour of medieval castles in England.

And, if touring castles is not on the agenda? A Guide to Medieval Castles of England is such a fun read anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book for this review and anticipate dipping into it every so often in the future. So, it is indeed a guide, and a good one. However, Hislop also provides a delightful armchair trip through a world of medieval castles with his descriptive text making this part of English history accessible for travellers and non-tourists alike.

As Hislop states in his introduction, "the sight of a castle...lifts the spirits, stimulates the imagination and allows us to escape". And that's how I felt when I started reading.

Broken into bite-sized, digestible history, this is a fascinating book. The introduction provides great context and background, and the glossary is very useful.

The formatting is straightforward, making it easy to find specific castles or scroll through at leisure. The information is concise, easy to read and reveals glimpses into the past.

The stories behind each castle are exciting, interesting and informative. And it's a great companion for anyone who wants to find out more about the ruins that dot our landscape. It's the ultimate guide to planning a road trip around the castles of England.

I love castles and I like to visit as many of them - or the sites at least - as I can. So it was with great pleasure that I welcomed this book compiled by the archaeologist Malcolm Hislop.

It is very much a reference book with the most significant English castles listed alphabetically. Under the listing is brief historical information about the style of castle, its current condition, who owns it, whether it is open to the public and so on. Backed up by lots of photographs and floor plans with just over a dozen stunning colour plates at the end.

The introduction justifies the choice of castles included (there are over four hundred) and why some regions are more represented than others. There is an extensive glossary to the architectural terms and a section on the purpose of the book and how to use it. Although highly detailed within the symbols and abbreviations, this is a very accessible book. It's rather like reading a map when deciphering what features are on the landscape and castle features.

It is a tad too large to keep in the glove compartment of my car, but is is invaluable when going castle hopping. All the information needed is there in a compact format and when cross-referenced with castles familiar to me, everything is there. An essential book for anyone interested in history or architecture and the beautiful cover will grace any book collection. Highly recommended.

An excellent research guide for someone writing about castles in the medieval time period, or reading about specific people or places and wanting just a bit more about specific castles, "A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England" covers 400 castles across the country in alphabetical order. With some pictures and diagrams to break up what would otherwise be a very text heavy book, you can get a good sense of certain styles of buildings. The focus is very much the architecture of the buildings and the glossary of terms in the beginning was a big help since there were a lot of terms I didn't know and had to keep checking.

Not a book you'd necessarily read from beginning to end, but would more dip into for a few pages at a time unless you were doing specific research, it would also be a great help when planning a trip, since Hislop identifies what places are currently open to the public and what you can see today of the medieval buildings.

I received this book from NetGalley and Pen and Sword in exchange for an honest review

Castles, the monuments of medieval times, are buildings that hold many tales. Tales of sieges and sorrow, triumphs and tribulations. Through the centuries, their stones and foundations held many secrets. Some of the stories are famous, but most are hidden in the shadows of time and are hidden in ruins. Although castles exist in numerous countries and are centuries old, the castles of medieval England tell a story of a country facing turmoil and changing European and world history forever. Malcolm Hislop, a historian and researcher who specializes in architecture and archaeology, has written a single book exploring every medieval castle and its original architecture entitled, “A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England.”

I would like to thank Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I am somewhat of an architecture novice. I did take a class about the history of art and architecture when I was in college. When I saw the title of this book, I was hoping that he would dive into the terminology and the history of how each castle changed over time. Hislop does his best to deliver just that for his readers.

Hislop begins by explaining the premise behind this book and what the time range will be for a castle to be considered medieval, which is if it was built between 1050 and 1500, which means this book covers over 400 castles. It is quite a mammoth task to cover that many castles and so much archeology, but Hislop does include a sort of glossary to help his readers traverse the complex world of medieval architecture. I do wish that Hislop included terms like motte and bailey in his glossary to help distinguish the different types of castles for novices.

The bulk of this book is focused on the gazetteer, which is simply a list of castles from A to W. Each entry explains where the castle is located, whether it is open to the public or not, a brief history of the occupants and builders of the castle, and finally detailed descriptions of the castle. While I do appreciate the effort that it took to write this book if you are not in England or a writer of historical fiction or nonfiction, this particular guide may seem a bit dry as a read. I feel like if I took a trip to England, I might take this book along with me as a starting point for which castles I should visit, but I think it might not be the best book for casual readers. It's a resource and not necessarily a riveting read and that may be because Hislop’s approach is more academic than casual history.

Overall, it is an academically sound book but it is not a casual read. This is a book for those who are architecture aficionados, castle nerds, medieval academics, and those who want to explore the ruins of England’s past. If this sounds like you, I recommend you read, “A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England” by Malcolm Hislop.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

Malcolm Hislop's "A Guide to Medieval Castles" is a brief but comprehensive journey through the architectural marvels that defined an era. This engaging non-fiction work serves as an excellent, informative historical guide for enthusiasts and casual readers alike. In this meticulously researched book, Hislop takes readers on a tour of medieval castles, through their history and how each castle is constructed.

In the book, there is an introduction, a glossary, a bibliography, and a gazetteer that lists all the medieval castles that were built between 1050 and 1500.

The gazetteer, which is listed in alphabetic order, makes this book a very organised, easy-to-read guide to medieval castles. Hislop makes sure to include the county each castle is located in, and if it is open to the public to visit, which is a nice detail to include for anyone who wishes to visit the castles. The diagrams of certain sites, as well as the inclusion of illustrations and photos of other sites, breaks up what would otherwise be a long series of text blocks, and also proves useful for visualising how these castles are laid out from Hislop’s descriptions of them.

Hislop’s descriptions include not just how the castle is laid out, but also when it was built, by whom, and a short description of its history for some of the castles. The descriptions are very much focused on the history of the construction and architecture of the castles, rather than any sort of personal history relating to the castles, which makes sense given Hislop’s background as an archaeologist, specialising in buildings archaeology.

The inclusion of a glossary at the beginning of the book is extremely helpful. Despite being a history graduate, I’m not familiar with all the terms listed there, so I imagine that the average reader wouldn’t be either. However, I couldn’t help but notice that terms like “motte and bailey” and weren’t included in the glossary, and even though these are explained in-text, it would have been a useful inclusion in the glossary, I feel.

Another minor issue I had was the length of the introduction, which almost felt like it should have been its own chapter at 16 pages. It’s certainly thorough, and a good primer for the rest of the book. The introduction to this book is a bit dense to read, for something that is supposed to be a semi-casual book meant to introduce readers to the subject. While some parts read quite well and keep you interested, at times it can feel like a bit of a slog to get through because of the way the writing flows. It feels a little more like an introduction to an essay than a “popular history” at times, and writing “popular history” is very different from writing for an academic audience. However, this doesn’t detract from the overall experience of reading the book, and the book is still incredibly interesting despite this.

If you’re interested in reading a brief introduction to medieval castles, specifically how they’re constructed and the history of their construction, then this is the book for you.

Spread across the medieval kingdom of England in a network of often formidable strongholds, castles, like cathedrals, are defining landmarks of their age, dominating their settings, in many cases even to this day.

Hislop displays a vast knowledge of his subject and this new book by him on Medieval Castles of England is a worthy addition to the genre. This book is extremely well collated, featuring a handy glossary of the various elements which make up a castle, fort,manor and other defensive structures. He traces their history through the period they were originally built and follows them to their sometime demise and continued existence in some instances. Richly illustrated with fine quality pictures of each structure, Hislop provides excellent descriptions and snippets of information on the families who lived and died in these buildings. A highly enjoyable book for any medievalist, student of these structures or interested lay person. It is an easy read and I recommend it highly. My thanks to Netgalley and Sword & Pen publishers for a fine publication.

What an informative book. The story and history behind of all these castles were perfectly researched.

This book introduces the castles in alphabetical order - private or open to public, from the gate to the tower, from the window to the interior. It covers the most design of the castle, surely it also tells you who and when the castle was built.

While you think all the castles look the same, the book provides you various designs of the castles, the map, the floorplan and the outlook. They are fabulous!

I also appreciate the book shares with us the Castles by County in the last part of the book, which makes it very clear when you are looking for a specific area to explore.

If you are interested in understanding the Medieval castles in England, this is the book you should land in.

I received an ARC of “A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England” from NetGalley and Pen & Sword Books in exchange for an honest review.

The author, Malcolm Hislop, picked an extraordinary subject to write about. Hislop earned his PhD in Archaeology from the University of Nottingham, so he is most definitely knowledgeable about the subject. The book includes a thorough introduction, a glossary, an impressive bibliography, and an alphabetical gazetteer listing of all of the medieval castles that were built between 1050 CE and 1500 CE—roughly a 450 year time period. In addition, Hislop included a map of England, black and white photographs throughout the text, and a number of different colored plates at the end of the book. I particularly like how the author included a name index at the end where readers can find the names of numerous people—including royal family members—throughout the text.

The author chose to place the glossary at the very beginning of the book, which is a wise choice. However, several important terms were absent from the glossary. For example, “license to crenellate,” “bailey,” and “motte” weren’t included. Architects and archaeologists specializing in castles and castle architecture will be able to pick up this book (and will love it!) and completely understand every single term. But others (like myself) have little knowledge of architecture. For example, I’ll use motte vs. moat. I knew what a moat was, but had no idea about mottes. I couldn’t find the term in the glossary, so I had to look it up online. This may seem easy enough, but I envision people lugging this book around with them while taking day trips to visit these sites, and convenience is the key.

I can state from personal experience that writing for general public consumption is entirely different than writing for an academic audience. The general public, in many cases, needs to be taken by the hand and scholars need to be able to explain things clearly. While the text is clearly legible, it would have helped if the books’ designer(s) had altered the layout just enough to separate the sources from the text on a separate line rather than following it with no interruption. For example:

ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH, Leicestershire (Open - EH). [Entry text here…..]
[Text here…]
[Text here…]
Sources: Fosbrooke 1911; Emery 2000.

I couldn’t find anything on the Pen & Sword website that showed the actual size that this book will be. I’m hoping that the editors will make sure that this book can fit in a glove compartment or is small enough that it can be easily carried by visitors. While this book will no doubt appear in libraries throughout the UK, I envision that this book could definitely earn a place in the cars, purses, and backpacks of visitors. The fact remains that the vast majority of people in the world are not academic scholars, so it would be nice if the author could include an additional line at the end of each entry (after the sources) that included something that was attention grabbing for the general public. For example:

ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH, Leicestershire (Open - EH). [Entry text here…..]
[Text here…]
[Text here…]
Sources: Fosbrooke 1911; Emery 2000.
Did You Know?: This castle includes one of the most impressive medieval castle kitchens that have survived into the modern era. It… [text continues—2 sentences maximum].

Each site has something spectacular to offer, not just for British visitors but foreign visitors as well. If the author can list at least one item at the end, readers might originally skip the text and read that line—which could encourage them to not only read the main text, but also go to see the site itself to experience it for themselves. This can also include whether or not famous people In history visited, fought, or died there; famous wars; even old tales (local gossip about things like ghost citings and other rumors). A lot of this is already included in the text, but for people with short attention spans, highlighting at least one important aspect of each castle on a separate line would help.

Not only is this be superbly knowledgeable (which it is!) but it can also have an amazing fun factor that will draw people in—not only selling more books, but also helping individuals, families, local businesses, and English Heritage to generate more support, including financial, for these beautiful structures. In the Did You Know? section, the author can include an “extra” that can guide visitors to their next destination. For example, an historic pub five kilometers from a castle that serves a ploughman’s lunch using the same breed of cattle that was originally raised on the castle’s estate. This way, visitors can truly experience a medieval castle—first by visiting it and second by eating similar food that the castle owners would have eaten. Or perhaps the descendants of the family are now growing sheep and selling yarn nearby—this would give the visitors a chance to really solidify their experience by meeting one of the family members AND would boost the local economy.

Hislop did a fantastic job identifying these historical structures. And his efforts at helping to encourage people to rediscover these sites on their own cannot be overlooked. It’s been a long time since I’ve set foot in England, and I know that when I return, I will definitely be using Hislop’s guide to discover the past.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

I am a massive historical nerd and am deeply in love with the medieval era and castles. I was very interested to read this book as it delves into what I'm interested in. I wasn't disappointed; it was clearly set out and very informative. The photographs added a lovely touch as did the floor plans to a selection of the castles. It was well set out in alphabetical order. I have visited a few of the castles in this book myself ... and now I want to visit many more!