Synopsis Europe, a pivotal crossroads in the history of humankind, is the region in which the castle developed between the 5th and 7th centuries, which was the period that saw the decline of the Roman Empire and the ancient world. It was during this period that the little Roman castrum closed itself off completely, within ever-thicker walls and increasingly massive towers, simulating the development of gradually more effective and deadly military tactics. Indeed, the castle's main purpose was to defend a court and its people, but one of its less obvious functions was to transmit clear signs of pre-eminence and grandeur over the surrounding lands. It is precisely for this reason that castles are able to reveal so much of the history of a nation. From Bavaria to the Loire Valley and Scotland, this volume presents the finest examples of fortified architecture in Europe, spanning many centuries in order to follow the fascinating evolution of constantly changing ideas and techniques. The history and the very "souls" of Europe's most famous castles are illustrated in photographs and text in an uninterrupted sequence stretching from the early Middle Ages, when the castle assumed its most classic and recognizable form, to the most sumptuous baroque and eclectic structures of the 18th and 18th centuries, built at a time in which Europe's castles were no long required for their original purely military purpose and were thus being transformed into regal residences of unmatched splendor.