"From New York Times bestselling historian Dan Jones, a grand and sweeping exploration of the world's most awe-inspiring buildings, told through the lives of the people that fought, prayed, survived, and died within them Castles have been built to defend humanity for millennia-from the walls of Troy over three thousand years ago and the desert bastion of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria; to Windsor Castle and the Tower of London; to Himeji in Japan and the Maginot Line in the Second World War. They have inspired terror and ambition, foiled conquering forces, and been deployed as the ultimate expression of wealth, status and supremacy. Jones leads readers on a journey through centuries and across continents as each castle tells a unique story of power, politics, and survival, revealing the shifting tides of warfare, the rise and fall of empires, the resilience of people under siege, and the flourishing of new ideas. Blending rich storytelling, cutting-edge research, and beautiful original illustrations, Castles is an epic story of how humans first came to build fortifications and how they expanded into powerfully capturing our imagination. With Jones's trademark scholarship and flair, he shows how defiance, endurance, and imagination have been carved into the landscapes we've inherited"-- Provided by publisher.