The era of 1250-1450 was a turbulent time in Scotland. Though it started out peacefully enough, the machinations of Edward I of England soon changed that into one of nearly continuous warfare throughout his reign. In those days, the keys to the kingdom were the castles and other fortresses of the land and so it was those edifices that were the sites of most of the battles. As you might imagine, siege warfare was the main way of getting things done and soon many of the castles of Scotland were damaged or destroyed, with many of these being rebuilt.

In this Osprey title, Michael Brown takes a look at these fortifications. The majority were not the grand castles that one often thinks about but were fortressed in some way or another. Many were simply free standing towers in which the lord of the land and his family resided. Others were built more for purposes of prestige than with any real thought about using them for defense. Just about all fell to ruin through neglect in the later times of turbulence during the 1600s.

Fortunately, most of these castles survive and many are in spectacular locales. This book looks at these 13th century castles; their builders and their design and function in society. We then get a close look at Kildummy Castle as a prime example of this type of construct. Then we move on to the castles at war during the period 1296 to 1356 and their later reconstruction until 1450. A look at what it might have been like to live in one of these castles is the next section using the castle at Threve in 1426 as a prime example. Then what happened to these castles and a look at visiting extant sites concludes the book. Overall, it is an excellent book on a subject that is both historically significant and fascinating to read. It is one I can highly recommend.

April 2009

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