CotW, written by Phyllis G. Jestice, is a visual travel among castles. From the oldest, built to withstand actual attacks, to the modern and more decorative ones, Jestice put together an informative book, filled with pictures and cultural tidbits. It might be a niche topic, but it sure is interesting. Built atop of hills, surrounded by moats, sometimes only reachable by boat, in the general imaginary they’re a stronghold; visiting them, even by proxy, feels like taking a step in the past.

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Castles of the World by Dr Phyllis G Jestice is a beautiful coffee table book that offers a wider range of castles than many such books. The information for each is brief but interesting, just the right amount for a book emphasizing the photographs of the castles.

Unless you've made a point of traveling the world visiting castles, there will be quite a few you probably haven't been to. My experiences have been mostly limited to Europe and some of the Middle East, so this book introduced me to not only castles I missed in those areas but some of the examples from around the world.

One thing this book did for me, which I love, is it made me look up a number of things, from architecture specific to different locales to information about particular castles. I truly appreciate a coffee table book that piques my interest enough to serve as a springboard for me to delve deeper into aspects I find intriguing.

Definitely a wonderful addition to the library for travelers, arm chair travelers, and those who love books with great photographs and interesting background on each castle.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Fascinating! The choices of photographs of castles from all over the world and the brief histories of each is absolutely full of wonder. Some are in ruins, some only neglected for a century or two, some partially restored, and one even houses three museums. I LOVED it! What a delightful visual escape.
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Amber Books Ltd via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ( )