It is the only book available that covers all types of architecture and building in Wales over a period of two thousand years, from Roman times to the present. The book is illustrated by 254 colour and black & white photographs, drawings and plans. The book has fourteen specially-drawn maps illustrating ranges of building types. The book is intended for the general reader as well as architectural specialists.

This volume presents a collection of essays providing a picture of the current knowledge of castles in Wales and the Marches. The essays have been brought together to honour a leading scholar in the field of castle studies. The collection is set out in chronological order starting with early earthwork castles and extending through to the 17th-century Civil War. The majority of the papers look at an architectural, archaelogical or histroical aspect of a particular castle. There are in addition three synoptic papers. The interest of the volume goes beyond the medieval period, and six of the essays have particular relevance for post-medievalists.

You may be a castle enthusiast on holiday or an armchair aficionado seeking the perfect introduction to Welsh castles. If so, here is the perfect solution: a combination of fireside companion and practical handbook for windswept walks. The introduction sweeps through medieval history, setting the castles in their historical, political and military context, while the main text is a practical guide to nearly 80 castles with grid reference and notes on access, history and building details. Fully illustrated, "Castles in Wales, A Handbook" also includes a list of over 400 medieval castles, and an appendix of possible, post-medieval and lost castles.

The fascinating story of the buildings that have helped to defend Wales throughout its history from the Iron Age to the twentieth century.

From the great citadels of Caernarvon, Harlech, Powis and Beaumaris in the north, to the Victorian glories of Cardiff in the south, St David's cathedral ('the loveliest church in Wales') in the west to the exquisite little hill church of Patrishow in the east, from Plas Newydd above the Menai Straits to the romantic citadel of Carreg Cennan in the heart of the country, the buildings of Wales embody its history and are the equal of any in the British Isles. Simon Jenkins has travelled, it seems, every mile of the country to celebrate, and in some cases to find the very best of them, and irresistibly conveys in this book his enthusiasm for them. Cumulatively they amount to a cultural history of Wales by one of its most devoted sons. Anyone who is visiting Wales or who loves it will want to own this glorious book.