Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Castle

I purchased this book for my son, who loves all things Medieval. He's spent hours and hours poring over the cross sectioned drawings and telling me about all he's learned. The book's text and color drawings are very well done, and my son has enjoying looking through it more than once.

Although this book is marketed as a children's book, I highly recommend it for adults as well. As someone who is just becoming interested in medieval culture and castles, this was a great starting place for me.Each two-page spread is dedicated to a different subject (castle structure, jobs, entertainment, weapons, etc.). I learned a lot about life in and around the castle in a very short time by reading all the little notes that pointed out all the different aspects of what was going on in the picture.This will be a great help to me when I construct the miniature castle that I plan to make. It's also just a lot of fun to read!

This is an exceptional book that is intended for children aged 9 to 12, but is fascinating even for adult readers. You get to see and learn about a fully functional castle in it's heyday. A grand medieval castle is divided into it's many different subsections. Each part of the castle is shown and described in great detail. Its inhabitants, from the Royalty and their residential area, to the toiling peasants and craftsmen, to the military with their weaponry and defenses, are included. There is also a "Where's Waldo" type "Find the Spy" hidden in each cross section. While the squeamish may have some objection to the miniscule amount of material depicting the treatment of captured enemies, and some potty humor involving the functioning of the castle lavatory, I suggest it's a good opportunity for discussion as it really only enhances the thoroughness of the material. It is a good educational resource and a fun book to "read".

I first got this book from the library when I was in sixth grade. It was not only usefull for a paper on castles, It was extremely fascinating. I am now in my teens and still enjoy the subject. Reading books like this sparks an interest in children, as they grow older they want to learn more on such a subject and will move on to read more in depth books. I think that this book, along with Macauly's classic work, are the best books in this area for sparking an interest in the subject of castles, be it history, architechture, or modelling. To the woman who found the illustrations shocking, I say that there is much more graphic violence on TV or in movies. You shouldn't have burned the book either, no piece of literature, no matter how shocking or controversial should be burned. Remember American troops have fought to keep this world free of facism.

This is really a wonderful book about castles. I'd easily placeit with David Macauley's classic "Castles." What reallymakes this book is its wonderful cross-section illustrations of castles which make the architecture of the castle easily accessible to the reader, child or adult. As castle model builder, this book was a "god-send." I have used the many illustrations and comment to make blueprints for my castle reproductions...the ultimate compliment to this book came from my nephews (4 & 5yo) who ask their uncle every visit to pull down this book and read about castles!