Product Description

The castles of Britain are icons of history. They were built to mark the domains of the powerful and stood as symbols of authority. They were built using the most advanced structural technology of the day and were designed to withstand the strongest of attacks. And their locations illustrate the understanding of how the lie of the land and a good position would assist their joint roles as defenders and emblems of power And no view of great castles is as imposing and revealing as the view from above -showing off their beauty, highlighting their purpose, focusing on their extraordinary design. Castles From the Air shows the splendour and lasting resonance of the nation's best-loved castles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #152005 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 212 pages

About the Author
Paul Johnson works as a historian, journalist and author. He was educated at Stonyhurst School in Clitheroe, Lancashire and Magdalen College, Oxford, and first came to prominence in the 1950s as a journalist writing for, and later editing, the New Statesman magazine. He has also written for leading newspapers and magazines in Britain, the US and Europe. Paul Johnson has published over 40 books including A History of Christianity (1979), A History of the English People (1987), Intellectuals (1988), The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815-1830 (1991), Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000 (1999), A History of the American People (2000), A History of the Jews (2001) and Art: A New History (2003) as well as biographies of Elizabeth I (1974), Napoleon (2002), George Washington (2005) and Pope John Paul II (1982).

Customer Reviews

Magnificent photographs, Magnificent Book
For anyone who is even remotely interested in these bastions of our past history this book is must. Not only are the photographs magnificent and reproduced on a quality of paper that does justice to them, but there is also ample text to put meat on the bones of the photographs.

Being aerial photographs allows the photographer to compose a picture containing the whole of the building. This gives the viewer a much better idea of both the shape and size of the castle. Practically all of the finest castles in Britain are shown and it certainly gave me a sense of pride to know that our ancestors were capable of building such magnificent structures, quite often in places that were not really conducive to building, but position wise were strategically perfect for the placement of a castle. If a structure could be built that only needed to be defended on two or three sides, s much the better.

Enough said, anyone interested enough in these marvellous buildings to want to buy the book does not need me to go waffling on about such details. The book is well worth having for the beautiful photographs.