I read this before lockdown and before being ill. Such a great read and fabulous photos. Makes me want to go visit them all.,

"Everyone's beautiful in Europe, because of those castles they live in." --Sarah Haskins, Target:Women

Seriously, though, castles are amazing. And this book expands its definition of castles beyond the stereotype--it features all kinds of ancient dwellings.

It's a really lovely coffee-table book. It needs an index and a bit more scaffolding to be a reference on the subject though.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

I loved the photographs of ruined castles in this book...feeling the history of what was once a busy environment now peopled only with imagined ghosts.

I enjoyed reading and looking at this book. Many of these castles were new to me. Each castle is represented with photographs and a quick history. I really liked reading about the reasons many of the castles were abandoned. Many of the photos really capture the sense of loneliness. The book is organized by timeline. Enjoy arm chair traveling to these historic sites.

First, this is a lovely book filled with gorgeous photos of castle ruins around the world that will surely please any history buff, traveler (whether actual or armchair), or photography enthusiast. Second, this is primarily a coffee table book- while there are brief summaries of the castles pictured, they are like I said brief; the main purpose of this book is the photography. There are some really stunning shots, with a variety of lighting, which really make this a perfect book to curl up with and daydream about days gone by. Another thing to keep in mind is that castles were fortified structures, so there are fortresses of various types in here too, including some forts in the U.S.. A large part of the castles featured are Western European and Middle Eastern, but there are quite a few from Asia, Africa, and the Americas as well. The book is arranged by time period rather than area, which I enjoyed, but there's not an index if you're hunting for something in particular, so be prepared to do some page flipping.

#AbandonedCastles #NetGalley

Kieron Connolly’s Abandoned Castles is a beautiful coffee table book filled with stunning full-colour pictures of hundreds of castles from around the world.

I had absolutely no idea that there were so many fascinating and amazing castles in the world! I already knew the painful history of Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle and I’ve already admired India’s sprawling Bhangarh Fort. Canada is even included with Carleton Martello Tower in New Brunswick!

The book is divided according to timelines: Ancient Times to the Dark Ages, Early Medieval Period, Late Medieval Period, Early Modern Era, and Imperial Era. This book features a variety of castles from many countries around the world. Castles from the usually expected places like England, Ireland, and France dominate the book. However, Connolly also features buildings in locations like Russia, Japan, Poland, India and even America!

Each section also comes with a brief one-page introduction. I do wish these introductions were a little more detailed though. Furthermore, each castle comes with a snippet of information on its history. I’m very glad that these writings are super brief so that the images can remain at the forefront.

I love the full colour photos which are just beautiful and stunning. But, I do wish some of the pictures were better so that we could see the castles in more detail. Furthermore, I also think the book would’ve been a little easier to go through if it was divided according to location or continents.

Abandoned Castles is a gorgeous book that will be a great gift for photography or history lovers.



🏰 🏰 🏰 🏰 castles out of 5!

The photography is exquisite.  Anyone who likes castles would be thrilled to have a copy of this book.  The book is split up by era/period, with a brief introduction to the architecture from that era - followed by TONS of photos.  You will find yourself dog-earing pages and adding to your bucket list of places to see..

A gorgeous photobook featuring – wait for it – photographs of abandoned castles! Yes, this book delivers exactly what it promises, and then some. We’ve got beautiful, detailed photos of magnificent abandoned castles from around the world, including Europe and the Middle East, and even India, Japan, Ghana, Canada (?! Since when did Canada have a castle?) and, get this, America (Fort Union in New Mexico is considered a castle?! And Fort Richmond in NYC?? I mean, they’re abandoned, yes, but castles?). I love photobooks, especially photobooks of castles, and this book perfectly captures the beauty of these abandoned structures, even the ones that aren’t really the first thing you’d think of when you think “castle.”

Great book of images of over 100 places mainly in Europe and Eastern Europe. A few in other places. A small side caption of place, where it is and a little information. Great for those who love looking at buildings like this.

This book is absolutely stunning! As I was reading it, I felt like I went on a journey through time!

I am such a lover of history, and found the information given about the castles really interesting! It makes me want to do more research about these castles, as well as others to find out more about the history. I also really enjoyed how the book was organized by time period as well. This book is definitely well-researched and well thought out.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Amber Books for a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Update: I received my review copy of the physical book today, and it is even more gorgeous in person! The pictures look beyond gorgeous, and the information font sizing was much easier to read than on the .pdf on my device. Any unevenness in photo quality / font being difficult to read is not present in the book itself!

This book describes many different castles around the globe, providing history and beautiful photos of each, all organized by their age. Primary focus is on castles from Europe and the Middle East. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction, then contains photographs of castles, each accompanied by a short (~2 sentences) caption describing its history. Of interest is the fact that not all photos were taken with a blue sky in the background. Often there are fantastic light effects from clouds or sunlight. This makes for a nice picture book, but sacrifices historical detail for the visual aspects.

This was a spectacular book! This book would make a wonderful coffee table style edition to have out to regularly gaze at the pictures and descriptions. The photography was breathtaking. The only area that disappointed me (slightly) was on a couple of the castles that clearly had enough standing that would have been wonderful to have seen some of the inside. However, they were likely not safe to enter and explore in such a way. This book made my wanderlust just push into high gear! I would LOVE to have the opportunity to go and see many of these places first hand. However, as someone without that ability any time soon, this book was a wonderful way to fill that great curiosity within.

I was privileged enough to receive a complimentary copy of this book from Amber Books Ltd through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I’ve always loved castles. When I was a boy my dad, a carpenter, made me a castle as a Christmas present. It had four circular turrets, one at each corner, and a drawbridge that could be raised and lowered. It’s probably the best present I ever received. And when I worked in Wales for a period I used to take my son to visit castles at Caerphilly and Cardiff – I’m not really sure whether this was for his education or to feed my own fascination with these structures. So when I spotted this book I knew it was something I’d lap up.

It’s a pictorial journey through abandoned hill and sea forts, castles, towers and citadels from Europe to the Americas and from Africa to India and Japan. The structures featured here were built as early as the 6th Century BCE and as late as the 5th Century CE. this collection comprises 150 stunning photographs detailing more than 100 fortifications. My favourites include:

- The intricate fort at Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India, its walls covered in sculptures depicting scenes from Hindu mythology.

- Caught on a misty day, Corfe Castle in Dorset, England, looks stunning perched in a commanding position on a steep hill in a break between the Purbeck Hills.

- The triangular Caerlaverock Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland was the only British castle build in this shape.

- Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland is perched on a headland jutting into the North Sea. It was where the Scottish crown jewels were hidden when Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650.

- The fortifications at Palamidi, Nafplio, Peloponnese, Greece seems to dramatically crawl down the mountain.

A great book to browse through and to dream of times past.

A book of lovely photographs of abandoned castles throughout the world. Organized into chapters by periods, each chapter begins with a very short introduction. Most of the information is in the lengthy captions and the beautiful pictures.

This is a must-read for anyone who lives castles. Filled with spectacular pictures of abandoned castles all over the world, it contains short introductions describing castles all over the world in each era and short passages about the images. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the author's use of the abbreviations BCE and CE for B.C. and A.D. which always really annoys me.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Posted by Viola at 4:07 PM

Abandoned Castles is a great coffee table edition of an eclectic collection of (mostly) castle ruins around the world. Some of the images author Kieron Connolly has included are breathtaking. I never stopped to realize places like India would be home to castle structures but you can find examples here. The book is divided by historic periods with an introduction and many examples in each. It's fascinating to see how in some cases, the earth is reclaiming these spaces and how the former castle glory fits in to the current landscapes. The descriptions are brief and just enough to whet your appetite in to wanting more. Keep in mind, these are 'abandoned', not preserved, maintained or restored. History buffs and those that appreciate interesting landscapes will enjoy this collection.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully photographed book of abandoned castles from all over the world. The author describes over 100 of them. I never knew there were so many!
From childhood dreams of living in a castle as a knight or king, to today, when my dreams have reformed into the fantasy of rebuilding one, I have always felt myself drawn to castles. I always assumed that one would have to live in France or England to explore a castle. Wrong! From the U.S. to Canada, Russia to Hungary, the author has found abandoned castles all over the world.
The book is light on text, heavy on photographs. Just the perfect book to browse through on a cold winter day!
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an advance reader copy of this book. And to the author, for reigniting old dreams!

A wonderfully illustrated coffee table book that makes you travel in time and shows images of abandoned castles through the story.
I think that the images are gorgeous and the text are interesting.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Abandoned castle eye candy. Full of large, beautiful photos of castles and forts from all over the world. Each turn of the page is as breathtaking as the last.

Each photo has a small blurb describing the castle. I wish there had been a little bit more information on each castle, as I am curious about the history of these magnificent buildings.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.

Castles are such a wonderful spark to my imagination - I adore looking up photos of them online. This book is filled with gorgeous photos of abandoned castles and ruins. I'm unable to travel but these pictures give you the feeling that you're right there exploring them. The author offers some general background on castle history and also brief information on what's in the photos, but wisely lets the photographs take center stage.
I received an advanced digital reader's copy of this book.