This book examines the development of castles - as homes and at war, their building and their demolition - from the Neolithic strongholds to the folies des grandeurs of the last century. In between comes an evocative voyage from Iron Age hillforts and Roman defences, Saxon strongholds and the Norman invasion, to the perfection of castle design in the Middle Ages and the decline that followed. Gradually the castle fell from favour as the era of the stately home began. An authoritative guide to some of the greatest monuments of the British Isles, meticulously researched and illustrated throughout, this book should prove as enduring a legacy to a bygone age as is the subject itself.