This is a most attractive item, combining a traditional emphasis on thorough research and analysis with a modern approach to presentation, which results in a most successful publication. The volume is readable, informative and a pleasure to look at. Text and graphics are used in harmony on every page, colour abounds, and the whole is contained in a sturdy, well-designed cover which also folds out to reveal a large, phased plan of the site.
The background to the Honour of Pontefract is explained, and a brief account of its lords contains sufficient detail to help the reader link Pontefract with well-known national developments. The reader is helpfully reminded of the interest the area holds in earlier times, and a synopsis of Pontefract's development from prehistoric times onwards is provided. The documented and physical history of the site is described, and further sections are devoted to the process of castle-building and the reality of life in a castle. The famous sieges of the 1640s are dealt with in detail, and the fate of the castle in subsequent generations outlined. The excavations, carried out from 1982-86, are related fully, and their results skilfully summarized.
This is more than a guidebook. It provides a good general background to what a medieval castle was about, and would be a valuable item for educational use even where a visit to the site might not be practicable. For any visitor, amateur or professional, the volume is a most helpful one. For the professional, the plans, reconstructions and up-to-date account of recent research are invaluable. (John Kenyon in Castle Studies Group Newsletter No. 4)