Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history/News/January 2012/Op-ed

In my opinion Goodall's book almost has too many illustrations, though I sympathise because when writing castle articles I often find a host of images I'd like to include. The size and cost will probably put most people off buying this book, which is a shame because the lavish illustrations suggest a wide audience was desired.

Hchc's advice for writing a castle article is spot on. Davis' website has become the starting point whenever I write an article on an English or Welsh castle, and I wish there were similar websites for other countries, but if they exist I'm sadly ignorant of them. He includes links to webpages where available which saves having to search around for them. Volumes of the VCH can be found at www.british-history.ac.uk (and a host of other handy sources for British history) and some may be found at archive.org, particularly the older volumes.

It's worth bearing in mind that guidebooks – while very useful – often reflect the interests of their authors. The English Heritage guidebook on Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire concentrates almost entirely on its post-medieval history. That's not entirely unsurprising as the extant remains date from around the 16th century and the author doesn't seem too interested in the medieval period, but it wasn't too hard to add some medieval material to our own article. Similarly, the guidebook for Rochester Castle is excellent in its detail, but summarises the post-medieval period in about two pages, again because that wasn't the author's main interest.

As well as Cadw and English Heritage, the National Trust have their own guidebooks which are worth consulting. I've only read two, and they seem to vary in quality but are certainly worth consulting if only because they are readily accessible and will provide guidance on what should be included. The one for Bodiam Castle is excellent, but Corfe Castle's feels more patchy, partly because the chronology jumps about and it has a much more colourful history. It's still an interesting read though. Occasionally there are monographs on particular castles which will go into far more detail. Whereas guidebooks are cheap and accessible, the monographs will be denser and more technical, but worth using especially if you want to take an article to FAC (otherwise guidebooks will usually do the job) and they can be found in university libraries if you have access. Nev1 (talk) 13:12, 23 January 2012 (UTC)