ARCHAEOLOGY BOOKS

ARCHAEOLOGY BOOKS

 

Hill figures

The Wilmington Giant: the Quest for a Lost Myth.  Turnstone Press. 1983

 

  1983         2012

 

The first full-length book to be written about any individual British hill figure. (Tom Lethbridge’s entertaining book Gogmagog is really about a hoax, not a real hill figure.) I discuss in depth each of the principal theories about the Wilmington Giant’s origins, drawing on the results of modern research. This highly individual and (according to my publisher) eloquent account of one of the great English landscape mysteries should appeal to everyone who loves the landscape, history and folklore of the South Downs. Revised and updated in 2012.

 

Reviews:

‘. . . investigates all earlier known theories. . . an heroic search. . . tremendous  enthusiasm.’  Doris Gundry, Chichester Observer.

‘A continuing sense of mystery sustained - just like a whodunnit - until the closing pages.’  David Shaw, Geographical Magazine.

‘Exciting conclusions. . . well worth the read. ’  Sussex Life.

‘Well researched. . . the fullest account.’  The Cauldron.

‘A modern antiquarian classic. . . stylistic panache.’ 3^rd Stone. 

‘An impressive study. . . visionary.’ Paul Newman.

‘A wonderful book.’ Sir Michael Tippett.

 

 

The Cerne Giant.  Dorset Publishing Company. 1996

 

 

 

My publisher described this as ‘a lively and comprehensive account setting the Giant’s biography firmly into its natural context, the history of Dorset.’ Many theories have been put forward about the Giant - that he was a Roman Hercules; a standard for Dorset rebels in the Civil War; a seventeenth century lampoon on Lord Holles. I review and reject them one by one in favour of a grander, more powerful and ancient interpretation that links the Giant with St Augustine’s Well below. The findings are based in part on the results of my own geophysical surveys. A finely detailed detective story that tracks the ancient Giant back through the centuries to his origins.

 

Reviews:

 ‘A subject close to [Castleden’s] own heart, and to an area in which he lives and of which he has great knowledge. . . Rodney Castleden confounds sceptics with his reasoned presentation of the evidence. His work has been aided and supported by many senior figures in the archaeological field and he has the backing of independent          archaeologists (through the CIA), who have expressed solidarity with his work and aims - he is essentially a dedicated amateur in the best sense of the term. . . A splendid and readable survey of the legends, lore and known facts about the Giant. Highly recommended.’ Peter Clayton, Minerva. 

 

‘The author sets out sensible pointers to further archaeological inquiry and marshals - with obvious affection for this splendid old image - a body of material that must cause us to think again about dismissing a pre-Roman origin’ Aficionados of hill figures and those who delight in the picturesque aspects of English topography will want to own an attractive, fully referenced and modestly priced addition to the literature. Its author is no stranger to the field.’ Times Literary Supplement 

 

‘A very readable book. . . thoroughly enjoyable.’ Dorset Year Book.

 

‘A brave and obsessive attempt to recover a lost cosmogony, to draw in the threads of the past and enweave them in a narrative as vivid and graphic as that of Bayeux. Because nothing is known for certain, the task of producing a densely informative book on the Giant means that we are presented a multitude of explanations that taper into improbability or huge STOP signs. At times the immense figure attains a curious transparency as one learns about Celtic farmsteads, Aelfric, Elizabethan            intrigues, the Dissolution of the monasteries, the Romans in Britain and iconic images of warriors and gods. Beginning in the frivolous present, when advertizers equip the Giant with a gigantic durex, a pair of underpants and a Raleigh bicycle, the narrative probes deeper and deeper into the bloodstained loams of Celtic lore until, in a dramatic coup de theatre, the full horror is exposed. . . Here, then, is a chronicle in which the reader absorbs a series of radiations; these cannot be fixed to a period narrower than 500 BC - AD 1650, enabling the industrious author to rampage across vast historical tracts like a friendly bull, kicking up scholarly mud, snorting facts, diagrams, statistics. . . The section on Sir Walter Raleigh is arresting, tracing the provenance of that heretical sect The School of Night (an ideal subject for a Peter Ackroyd novel!). From details like these, the charm and pulling power of the book emerges - a modern antiquarian classic; the only other book on the subject to compare with it for compendious excellence and stylistic panache is The Wilmington Giant by the same author.’ Paul Newman, 3^rd Stone. 

 

 

Ancient Hill Figures of Britain. SB Publications. 2000

 

A detailed and comprehensive guide to the oldest hill figures in Britain, briefly summarizing all that I have learnt about this unique type of antiquity. I discuss the evidence for the monuments’ antiquity, and explain why they were ignored in medieval documents.     

 

 

Review:

‘Admirably written and intelligently informative. Rodney’s intimate knowledge of the area scores as we enter Wilmington churchyard and take sightings of the figure from the vantage of the 1600 year old yew tree. After alluding to the many theories lightly, he gently spreads out his neolithic case. No evangelising edge, just a contextual reasonableness, pointing out the long barrows, flint mines and trade routes in the vicinity. The Cerne Giant section keeps up the high standard . . . All the sections are quirky and bright-eyed, for Rodney has diligently surveyed each place, taken photographs and added his own pertinent insights to the current knowledge. Rodney Castleden, to his credit, shows a keener nose than most for sniffing out truffles from our dark past. An example of his patience, energy and resourcefulness is his attempt to throw light on the lost giant of Shotover Hill, east of Oxford. He visits the hill, beats around the ancient ochre pits, locates a spring and offers an account of           a Romano-British head-making industry at a place known as Red Sharde Field - ‘Were these the heads of deities - water sprites, perhaps? And was the site as a whole devoted to manufacturing objects devoted to a religious cult of some kind?’ For topographers, it is enchanting to learn facts like these. Of course, such a mode of privileging may wield a terrible kinetic force. What exactly do we have here - a new ritual complex?’  Paul Newman, 3^rd Stone.

 

 

Britain in the neolithic

 

The Stonehenge people: an Exploration of Life in Neolithic Britain, 4700-2000 BC.  Routledge. 1987

 

 

 

Routledge described this as ‘a vivid presentation of the world of the megaliths in a style easily accessible to the non-specialist, written from detailed and personal knowledge. This account gives a new insight into a brilliant phase of achievement in Britain’s prehistory, as well as a coherent and convincing interpretation of Stonehenge’s cultural context, history, purpose and meaning.’ The Stonehenge People has become a prehistoric best-seller.

 

Reviews:

‘Readable and useful. . . Where a new or alternative idea is presented it is clearly described. . . well balanced in style and approach, taking the reader as far as the evidence is likely to allow and no further.’  Graham Ritchie (Nature).

 

‘Aubrey Burl and Rodney Castleden have both produced fine studies. Both take liberties with their material, both in synthesizing minimize the complexities of their subject. . . Their faults are far outweighed by the richness of their material, the profundity of their analyses and the ingenuity of their interpretations. Both succeed admirably in communicating their ideas. On diagrams, illustrations and plans, Castleden wins hands down; if he tells, he shows, often with his own reconstructions. . . To accompany these gentlemen in their quest is a mind-expanding experience and a profound exercise in humility.’  Edward Cowan (Scottish Tradition)

 

‘This richly illustrated book will give the reader a profound insight into the mysteries and daily life of the ancient inhabitants of Britain.’ New  Humanity.

 

‘An ambitious attempt to bring the Neolithic period to life.’ The London Archaeologist.

           

‘An interesting, informative and provocative book.’ Journal of  Anthropological Research.

 

‘A well-written and full account of the British neolithic. . . designed to hold the interest of undergraduates.’ Choice.

 

 

Readers’ comments:

‘A remarkably fresh and much-needed reappraisal of the British Neolithic.’ Professor Colin Renfrew.

 

‘Anyone interested in the New Stone Age should start with this book - it is one of the best.’

 

‘A wonderful book, a true gem. If you too have nursed a lifelong fascination for the distant past and the fragmentary remains that have survived into our lives, you will find this book a revelation, no, an avalanche of revelations into the lives of our distant ancestors in the British Isles. Taking the results of countless meticulous surveys of monuments and artefacts throughout these isles, he has lyrically brushed             off the dust and then carefully pieced them together like some massive jigsaw into a picture of such detail and clarity that I, for one, will never be able to look at some obscure, tattered little stone circle in the same way again.’  Rod Drew.

          

Author’s comment:

‘The Stonehenge People’ is an ambitious book, perhaps dangerously ambitious. One Scottish reviewer guessed that there must be many archaeologists who would want to ‘ding me with their trowels’ and Julian Richards did indeed write a petulant review dismissing the book as ‘irritating’. It addresses some big questions. Who built the neolithic monuments and why?  How were the bluestones moved from the Preseli Mountains to Salisbury Plain?  How were the big sarsen stones moved from Avebury to Stonehenge? Who were the people who did these amazing things – and what did they think and believe?  Above all, I wanted to bring the people themselves and their dawning proto-civilization to life. It’s decades since ‘The Stonehenge People’ was first published. In that time, it has found many friends, including some readers who have returned to it for enlightenment or even comfort time and time again - among them the novelist Penelope Lively, who described on Woman’s Hour how from time to time she returned to the book for comfort, and the composer Michael Tippett. There seemed a happy inevitability about the moment when Tippett agreed, between composing ‘The Mask of Time’ and ‘New Year’, to write the preface for the second (1992) edition. He felt that I had reunited him with his ancestors, the people of the barrows.

 

 

Neolithic Britain: New Stone Age Sites in England, Scotland and Wales. Routledge. 1992

 

 

 

Archaeologists increasingly regard the stone age as a period of great achievement. In this book 1100 domestic, ceremonial and burial sites are listed, surveyed and described; from them a sense of the diversity and vitality of the neolithic communities emerges. This is the second book in my British neolithic trilogy. It has recently been chosen by Routledge as Volume 8 in its Library Edition, which it describes as ‘a rich selection of renowned and lesser-known scholarship’. So it is one of 50 titles, rather out of place I think, among great works by Stuart Piggott, Richard Atkinson, Richard Bradley, Leslie Grinsell, Kathleen Kenyon and V. Gordon Childe.

 

Reviews:

‘Rodney Castleden has done us all a favour, students particularly. . . reliable and nicely detailed accounts of over a thousand sites. ‘ Minerva.

 

 

The Making of Stonehenge.   Routledge. 1993

 

 

 

From the very beginning Stonehenge held many meanings for the people who built it. It acquired new layers of symbolism with time, and architectural cross references were deliberately built into it to strengthen its power. Key symbolic references were carefully reproduced or recalled in successive development phases, proving cultural continuity over surprisingly long periods. In this book I try to recover an ancient tribal achievement - and its meaning. This is the third book in my British neolithic trilogy. In Geoffrey O’Brien’s The Reader’s Catalog it is listed as one of the 40,000 best books in print; The Stonehenge People is another. There is a talking book version, read by Gordon Gould, created for the US Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind (3 cassettes, ref no RC-50708), though I have not, as the Library of Congress’s newsletter claimed, been ‘blind since birth’! You can’t believe everything you read.

 

Reviews:

‘Rodney Castleden has read all the reports and summarizes what the experts have said in layman’s language, with numerous diagrams of his own devising. As an aficionado, not constrained by the ambiguity of evidence that hampers the professional archaeologist, he then advances into speculative territory, proposing a design based on a half-ruined timber roundhouse immortalized in stone. The Times.

 

‘Stonehenge always seems to bring out the worst in archaeologists who either write books that are too technical or too philosophical but in “The Making of Stonehenge” Rodney Castleden comes close to providing a straightforward account of Stonehenge. He is particularly good on Durrington Walls which is the huge henge monument only a mile away from Stonehenge which surely provides the key to any           interpretation. He is at his best when synthesizing good academic work.’ Current Archaeology.

 

Readers’ comments:

‘A good read and a thorough description of the archaeology of Stonehenge and its environs. The perspective also covers much more about the people who made Stonehenge and what we can infer about them, which adds colour to the archaeology. Readable but still authentic - a good combination for those who want more than the Stonehenge guidebook.’

 

‘Castleden’s Stonehenge is something of a wonder in itself! . . . Readable and convincing. To read this book is to gain a real under-standing of this wonder of the world. Castleden’s work deserves better acknowledgement than it has gotten.’

 

Britain 3000 BC. Sutton. 2003

 

 

A moment of great significance in the British Isles. Avebury, Stonehenge and many other major monuments were at vital stages in their construction and use at this time, while writing – often regarded as the hallmark of civilization – made its first appearance in Europe. I use the evidence of archaeological investigations to re-create the society, customs, economy, religion and ritual of Britain 5000 years ago and to reveal the lost world of prehistoric people.

 

Review:

In 3000 BC, Rodney Castleden transports us back to the height of the Neolithic, a time of enormous and profound change and ‘great creative surges’. Combining archaeological evidence with informed – and ideas, this book will have a wide appeal for readers of all ages.  Oxbow Books.

 

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is beginning to look at the Neolithic period in England, or to anyone who is intrigued by Stonehenge, Avebury, or the marvellous Orkney sites.  Castleden does a fine job of pulling together the current evidence and weaving it into a comprehensive picture of life in the UK in 3000 BC.  Much of this involves interpretation, guesses, and imaginative reconstruction, but the author usually makes it clear when he is doing this, and carefully distinguishes between what the archaeological evidence can prove or not prove, and when analogies from anthropology are appropriate.  Occasionally the text drifts into fashionable patter about the psychology of spaces and the relation of mind to landscape, but not enough to be annoying.  But this is only one blemish in an otherwise excellent and useful work. The book abounds in well-chosen maps, illustrations and photographs, the material is presented in an orderly fashion, and the prose style is pleasant. Phil Paine.

 

 

The Aegean in the bronze age

 

The Knossos Labyrinth: a New View of the 'Palace of Minos' at Knossos. Routledge. 1989

 

 

Sir Arthur Evans did most of the excavation at Knossos in central Crete. Evans was convinced from first to last that Knossos, which remains central to our perception of Minoan civilization, was a royal palace. I argue in this book that Evans’s evidence from the first half of the twentieth century, as well as all subsequent research, proves that it was not a palace at all but a great bronze age temple-complex, the scene of fantastic ceremonies that included the famous bull leaping ritual. This book sent a cat among the Minoan pigeons, but several leading professional archaeologists are coming round to the same way of thinking.

 

Reviews:

‘A new and convincing perspective, this fascinating book will also serve as a useful guide, giving descriptions and explanations for many of the surviving structures which will greatly assist visitors.’  The Greek Gazette.

 

‘Castleden has read widely and is generally cautious about his use of sources. The book is a stimulating one, a tale that is well told. This reviewer moreover believes that ’palace’ was a misnomer and that ‘temple’ comes closer to the evidence recovered so far.’  Joseph W. Shaw, Classical Views.

 

‘His book will serve as excellent background, as well as a very manage-able guide for anyone about to visit the site.’ Sunday Telegraph.

 

‘A model for the sort of book archaeologists should write.’

Cambridge Archaeological Review.

 

 

Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete.   Routledge. 1990

 

 

 

A full-length portrait of the Minoan civilization, discovered by Arthur Evans in 1900 and now reinterpreted in the light of modern research. Mainly for the non-specialist reader, ‘Minoans’ is fully illustrated with photos and many reconstruction drawings. It has become, for many students and general readers, a favourite introduction to a great, but often neglected, civilization. It amplifies and complements the revolutionary ideas developed in the first book in the series, ‘The Knossos Labyrinth’.

 

Reviews:

‘Castleden has in recent years devoted himself with verve and insight to the study of Minoan civilization, producing The Knossos Labyrinth in 1989 and now this wide-ranging survey. The book is to be commended as a well-researched and well-argued study of a fascinating but enigmatic people.’  Professor J. V. Luce, Hermathena.

 

‘Castleden advances a theory of his own, namely that Knossos was a temple. His case is convincing.’  Architectural Science Review.

 

Reader’s comment:

‘Excellent, even-handed, purposefully unromanticized, and still the definitive book on the Minoans.’

 

 

Knossos, Temple of the Goddess.  Efstathiadis. 1997

 

 

 

Sir Arthur Evans was convinced that Knossos, which is central to our perception of Minoan civilization, was a palace. This book presents in simple outline my view that Evans’s evidence together with later archaeological evidence proves that it was a great bronze age temple-complex, the scene of fantastic ceremonies and the famous bull leaping ritual. A pocket guide to Knossos with colour photos.

 

 

Atlantis Destroyed. Routledge. 1998       

 

 

This book can easily be read on its own, without reading Knossos Labyrinth or Minoans first. It re-examines two theories for the Aegean location of Atlantis put forward in the early twentieth century: Minoan Crete and Minoan Thera. Spectacular recent research findings on Knossos and Thera show many parallels between Plato’s narrative and the Minoan civilization. The book gives special prominence to the sequences of wall paintings found on Santorini and the way they illustrate elaborate initiation rites and public festivals, throwing further light on the wonderful, complex and highly original  bronze age civilization that we call Minoan. The Department of Geological Sciences at California State University, Los Angeles, lists Atlantis Destroyed as one of 70 ‘Great Books’.

 

Readers’ Comments:

‘His meticulous research fascinates and intrigues you like a chess game or detective story. . . Castleden avoids dogmatism. With proper scientific detachment he lists in detail seven reasons why there have been so many misunderstandings about Atlantis. . . A fascinating, for all its meticulous detail never plodding, scientific dissection of Aegean proto-history. I see it as the nodal point, the foundation on which future archaeology and serious research can build.’  Laurence Nowry.

 

‘Having studied the literature of Atlantis since 1974, I know that it’s a very attractive and appealing myth. However, I entreat anyone with an open mind who is lured by fascination with this mystery to consider how so much that has been written about Atlantis can be identified as pseudo-science and pseudo-history. For open-minded readers who can tolerate alternatives to Michael Tsarion, I recommend reading Rodney Castleden’s “Atlantis Destroyed”.’ 

 

‘The only serious work I’ve seen relating archaeology to Plato’s myths is Castleden’s “Atlantis Destroyed”. . . of all the books I’ve read on Atlantis, the most impressive and the one with the most archaeological evidence. Castleden also wrote “The Making of Stonehenge”, “Neolithic Britain”, “The Knossos Labyrinth”, “The Stonehenge People” and “Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete”. He illuminates several puzzles that have misled many people. . . He provides a wealth of archaeological evidence and the book is generously sprinkled with sketches and photographs. He even goes into detailed points such as the fact that Santorini (destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption) has red, white and black rocks matching the building materials used in Atlantis. “Atlantis Destroyed” is a must read for anyone interested in the possible historical background to the Atlantis story.’ Doug Weller.

 

 

Reviews:

‘Every generation gets the Atlantis it deserves. It is appropriate that prehistorian Rodney Castleden should tackle the problem of the lost continent with a four-square, down to earth efficiency, reflective of the times. . . a convincing argument.’  The Ley Hunter.

 

‘Combining dual skills as geographer and archaeologist, Rodney Castleden  provides a thorough, gripping portrait of the Atlantis legend; of Minoan Crete; of the growth of a mercantile empire and its threat to the mainland communities; of the mixture of legend, fact and propaganda that goes into the making of a myth; of excavation, interpretation and scholarly duelling; of the geophysical conditions that climaxed in a magmatic outburst of alarming proportions. . . Not only does he tell you the full history of Atlantis, you are also treated to an attractively detailed exposition of Cretan culture. Furthermore, he proves an able skater in the philosophical arena, setting Plato in his historical frame, spelling out his ethical and political concerns - it is easy to forget that the ‘timeless’ philosopher had biases and private agendas. All in all, an entrancing, sombrely powerful narrative of a sophisticated ‘lost’ empire that grew strong, flaunted its leaves in the sun, overreached itself and ended with a bang rather than a whimper.’  Paul Newman, 3^rd Stone.

 

‘What, no swords ‘n’ sorcery? Can this really be a book about Atlantis? Those close to the shores of sanity will find this a sober argument for the real source of Plato’s yarn, one of the powerful legends of all time.’  Daily Telegraph.

 

‘Before I read Castleden, I could not make sense of Plato’s story about Atlantis. . . Rodney Castleden’s book is a first-class opportunity to clarify the difference between history and archaeology on the one hand and  peculiar imaginings such as those of Cayce on the other. Reading Atlantis Destroyed, I found myself asking: Why exactly is it that I find Castleden's argument credible and interesting, when everything else I have read about Atlantis, from Plato to the Antarctic, has seemed so patently lacking in credibility? There are several possible answers to this question, but I think that the heart of the matter has to do with the fact that Castleden marshals his evidence and lays out his inferences with a view to showing precisely where he could be mistaken, whereas the general run of claims about Atlantis make huge demands on our credence and fail to deliver any hard evidence at all. . . Castleden’s reconstruction of the life and fate of archaic Thera is haunting and has entirely altered my sense of Plato’s far vaguer evocation of the life and fate of Atlantis. . . After reading Castleden, one is led to the peculiar sense that Karl Popper’s ‘open society’ may very well have been ideally instantiated primordially in just that lost civilization which Plato looked back to with admiration. Isn’t that ironical? Isn’t that fascinating? Isn’t truth so much more interesting than fiction?’ Paul Monk, Quadrant.

 

‘Every generation gets the Atlantis it deserves. And in today’s atmosphere of the New Rationalism, it is appropriate that prehistorian Rodney Castleden should tackle the problem of the lost continent with a four-square, down to earth efficiency, reflective of the times.’  Society of Ley Hunters.

 

 

Mycenaeans. Routledge. 2005

 

 

 

The Mycenaean world was the world of the heroes who conquered Troy. Those heroes stood at the heart of Greek self-perception for centuries after the fall of their civilization. Since the rediscovery of the civilization of Mycenae by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s, knowledge of these Greeks of the bronze age has increased steadily. Stepping into the place of the collapsed civilization of Minoan Crete and the Peloponnese (the subject of my earlier bestselling study, Minoans), the Mycenaeans dominated mainland Greece and the Greek islands from about 1600 to 1200 BC. Their exploits became the subject of the legends that were immortalized by Homer.

     I lay out the fundamental traits of Mycenaean civilization, its hierarchy, economy, religion and arts. The book transforms our perspective of Minoan religion with my reinterpretation of the familiar ‘palaces’ of Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and elsewhere – as temples. Their sea-empire and their relations with other peoples of the bronze age world, including the Hittites, the Egyptians and the Trojans, receive full attention.

     An indispensable starting-point for the study of the Greek bronze age.

 

Review:

‘Well-written, illustrated throughout and authoritative, this is a great introduction to the Mycenaean civilization. Castleden covers a wide range of topics from the Mycenaean people (their physical appearance, clothing, jewellery, language) to their towns, cities and palaces, their religious beliefs, sea-empire, their relations with other polities within and beyond Greece, rural life and countryside, Homer and the Trojan War and the eventual collapse of their civilization at the end of the 13^th century BC. Highly recommended.’  Oxbow Books.

 

Reader’s comments:

‘Castleden has done a very good job synthesizing the archaeological evidence. The book is well written with easy to follow text and discourse and id filled with illustrations and annotations of artefacts, maps, floorplans of extant buildings and pen and ink representations of wall paintings and artefacts. Since Castleden is well versed in Minoan studies he is quick to point up how much the Mycenaeans had appropriated from the island culture: their art, their dress, and eventually their trade routes and craftsmen. He also points up the Mycenaean accomplishments, expanding out of the Peloponnese where most other books focus, and into the northern territories dominated by Orchomenos and Thebes.

     These people were bureaucratic, they were unafraid to change the landscape to suit their needs, diverting rivers and draining lakes, and they were militaristic. The author addresses the various other interpretations put forth and comes forwards with his own take on the material, presenting a well-reasoned and supporting argument for his interpretation.

    The biggest issue brought forth by him is the reinterpretation of the [buildings in the] citadels which were argued to be the palaces of the kings to actually be the temple centres of the kingdom, akin to the Acropolis in classical Athens. All in all, I found this volume very enjoyable and informative.’ Charles D. Gilliland.

 

‘. . . brings their culture and society to life with wit and elegance. . . a major new contribution to our understanding of this crucial period.’

 

 

The Attack on Troy. Pen & Sword. 2006

 

 

The fifth book in my Aegean sequence. 3250 years ago Agamemnon, king of Mycenae in Greece, attacked the city of Troy in western Anatolia. The bloody siege that followed gave rise to one of the most famous legends of the ancient world, and the search for the truth behind the legend has intrigued scholars ever since. In this new investigation I reconsider all the evidence – from Homer’s poetry to discoveries made by modern archaeology – in order to establish the facts and give a historical basis to the most potent myth of ancient warfare. The new analysis provides a convincing reconstruction of the Mycenaean raid and the brutal siege that Homer transformed into an epic and a myth. 4-star rating onAmazon.

 

Author’s comment:

This is probably the final book in the Aegean sequence, though I can’t be sure about that. When I wrote the first, about Knossos, I had no idea that a narrative revolving round a single idea, even if a very important idea, would or even could develop across three or four books, and this climactic volume came out of the blue after a discussion with editor Rupert Harding following his move from Sutton to Pen & Sword. Rupert wanted to extend Pen & Sword’s military history list back into antiquity. Did I have any ideas? My instant response was ‘Well, what about the Trojan War?’ Equally instantly, I became very enthusiastic about the project, positively wanting to write the book. Sometimes I know instantly that I want to do something – like the time when John Urmson phoned, again out of the blue, to ask if I wanted to write a music drama about Winfrith.

     From the outset, I knew that I had to test Homer’s account of events within the bronze age landscape of Troy. Here my background as a geomorphologist came in very useful, enabling me to reconstruct, pretty reliably, the bronze age landscape. Excitingly, once I had the city and its setting reconstructed in detail, more and more of Homer’s description of the unfolding war fell into place. That, more than anything else, convinced me that there is a large core of historical truth in Homer. It is, for me, a very satisfying conclusion to what has turned out to be an unexpectedly ambitious five-volume project.

 

Reader’s comments:

‘A quick run through gives the following impression. Compilation of recent research plus a good helping of speculation. Very worthwhile read for Trojan War fans. . . The corner has been turned on the historicity of the Trojan War. The historical case is probably made. Enjoy!’ 

 

‘A solid reconstruction of the events behind the epic poems of Homer. RC accepts the historical reality of the (or at least ‘a’) Trojan War as do many modern archaeologists and historians of the ancient world and in this book he presents plausible evidence for doing so, Castleden like many others places the war about 1250 BCE, at the end of the VIth phase of the city, but he does not neglect discussion of alternatives favored by others.’  Bruce Trinque.

 

 

   

King Arthur

                                                           

King Arthur: the Truth behind the Legend. Routledge. 1999

 

 

Archaeological and documentary evidence recreating Dark Age history and society shows not only that King Arthur did exist, but that many of the romantic tales that surround him - tales of Merlin, Camelot and Excalibur - are rooted in truth. It is possible to re-create rather more of the geopolitics of the sixth century than most people realise. At the centre of all that we know is an Arthur-shaped gap; he is not in the documents, but we can infer his existence. I suggest a solution to the puzzle of Arthur’s mysterious disappearance after the last battle.

 

Reviews:

‘Both scholarly and accessible. . . a joy for all Arthurian devotees as Castleden weaves his theories around the evidence. A credible ‘This Is Your Life’ snapshot of Arthur the King without divesting the legendary figure of his aura and majesty.  The arguments he presents give us a revolutionary insight into the vexed question of Arthur’s demise and final resting place. This is one book that should not be missed by any Arthurian fan.’  Kenneth Turner,  Otago Daily Times.

 

‘Rodney Castleden is well known as an investigator into prehistoric enigmas . . as expected, this then is a thoroughly researched book, burrowing into scholarly literature, archaeological reports, fringe theories and texts both ancient and modern . . . A bold attempt to locate and give substance to the best known of the insular Dark Age figures, and I for one will need little excuse to dip back into these pages.’  Chris Lovegrove, Pendragon.

 

‘Stylish both in terms of appearance and the approach to the text, Castleden, as historical writer and researcher of proven quality, keeps his head even when uncovering intriguing new evidence.’  Mobipocket.

 

Reader’s comment:

‘By carefully scrutinizing archaeological and documentary evidence Castleden slowly builds  a picture of Arthur, his frontiers and political power-centres and his probable life style, while the reader can begin to understand what life in sixth century Britain may have been like. Arthurian studies have a fascination which can take a strong hold  on you. There is no shortage of direct evidence of Arthur’s existence and each tiny           piece lies within a different field of scholarship: history, Celtic studies and philology. For every conclusion he draws, Castleden gives the reader all the relevant evidence, his reasons for dismissing some of it, and his reasons for accepting other parts. He manages to make the book very easy to read, unlike many academic works. The arguments he puts forward are compelling. The book gives an excellent insight into the so-called ‘Dark Ages’. If like myself you have drawn an imaginary picture in your head, then all you need is a little bit of geographical knowledge to make sense of the rest of the book and give that picture a lot more detail. Castleden has an enthusiasm which infects the reader and his argument          are all credible. His Arthur is radical yet believable and his ideas are incredibly interesting, particularly with regard to the sites referred to in the legend. He has a brilliant theory about Tintagel Castle. Castleden grips the subject by the scruff of the neck and manages it with great ease and success. Read this book and let your imagination do the rest!  ‘Gorlagon’.