School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-8-Macaulay's Cathedral (1973) and Castle (1977, both Houghton) were landmark titles for children, appealing to both those interested in history and architecture, as well as to some who found the pictures fascinating in and of themselves. Reissued with the pictures in color, they remain timeless staples for the architectural crowd. The fluid and informative texts remain basically unchanged except for some subtle clarifications and updates, with the stories of the building of the fictitious Cathedral of Chutreaux and Lord Kevin le Strange's Castle at Aberwyvern still maintaining dramatic tension even as they serve as vehicles for explaining building techniques and features. The illustrations have been extensively reworked, with cross sections replaced by dramatic three-dimensional views. The use of color is muted, employing mostly the greens, browns, grays, and blues of nature; and it is certainly effective. The older editions are enriched by viewing alongside the new ones, and vice versa. Clearly labeled diagrams; a detailed, complete, and informative glossary; and the use of full-color spreads to bring the buildings and their inhabitants or parishioners to life make these excellent additions.-Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Everything you've always wanted to know about how a castle was defended--in a fusion of the organic and the technical that David Macaulay hasn't quite achieved before. ""On a high limestone outcrop"" along the Welsh coast, master engineer James and his staff build a castle and a town for Lord Kevin--to help secure northwest Wales, in 1283, for Edward I. Thus, from one or another bird's-eye view, one sees the site as a ditch outlines the town, a moat cuts off the castle rock, bounding walls and towers rise, houses line the streets and stretch, with their garden plots, to the town wall--where at last, in 1295, Welsh soldiers mount an attack. Meanwhile, one has also watched, close-up, the intricate construction of battlements, towers, gatehouses (and garderobes) designed to make the imaginary ""Aberwyvern"" an impregnable fortress. So there is no little drama in seeing the attack repulsed, the defenses hold; but Macaulay does it artfully, with pictures (a catapult assembled, and then abandoned), and moves on in good historic order to the town spreading beyond the walls, Welsh and English passing freely through the gates. At the very last ""Master James's mighty castle"" is a moonlit ruin--ending in romance what began as a calculated plan. The factually-minded and fantasizers will find equal reward here. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 6-9. Macaulay's ingenious book, along with his equally effective Cathedral, comes to life through the author's narration in this PBS special.
