The twenty seven extensively illustrated essays in English and German collected here explore various aspects of the history and archaeology of the castle in the medieval Baltic states, The Danish castle before 1250 - status symbol or necessary defence?; Das Konventhaus in Estland; Mittelalter Wehrbauten in Schleswig und Holstein; Princes' reidences in Denmark 1000 - 1350; Die Turmburg in Estland; The medieval archbishop's and king's manors in Uppsala; The feudal castle - a fiction?; Die Wehrbauten von Haapsalu; Food and husbandry on medieval castles and manors in Sweden. An appendix gives brief descriptions and histories of castles in Finland.
