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 was 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.