Review: The English Castle, 1066–1650, by John Goodall

Abstract

John Goodall. The English Castle, 1066–1650 New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2011, 480 pp., 250 color and 100 b/w illus. $75, ISBN 97803001105 John Goodall has written what is perhaps the most important, authoritative, and scholarly book on English castles for a generation. It is a large tome (weighing seven pounds) with an incredible amount of information, marshaled in great detail and presented with deep understanding, clarity, and command. Additionally, Goodall proposes a series of exciting new ideas here that, taken together, mark a watershed in castle studies. The author states his aim in The English Castle thus: “this book is an architectural study that aims to set this legion of buildings in historical context. … It is intended to be a provocative work, challenging received opinions, and, hopefully, formulating many new ones” (xiii). Goodall organizes the book chronologically: after an introductory discussion, we get successive chapters organized around royal reigns, with titles such as “The Early Angevin Castle: Henry II and Richard I” and “The Lion of England: Edward III.” Its chronological scope extends over six centuries, from buildings prior to the Norman Conquest to the English Civil War, and it examines buildings from across England and Wales and beyond (more on this below). Goodall’s ostensible objective is to focus on four great castles in particular: Dover, Durham, Kenilworth, and Windsor. Although he gives these four castles their own subsections in the bibliography, this claimed focus is not particularly noticeable as one reads through the text itself, so rich is the detail on literally hundreds of castles of all areas and periods. To understand the importance of Goodall’s arguments, one must …