For more than 3,000 years, castles and fortifications have shaped the landscapes around them. They defended cities, controlled trade and provided refuge in times of war. But they were also monuments to the ambition of those who built them: vast projects that brought together military power, engineering, labour and wealth.
Were castles the original military-industrial complex? Why did even the strongest fortresses fall? And why do these obsolete weapons of war retain such a powerful hold over our imaginations?
In this episode, Mia Sorenti speaks with historian and broadcaster Dan Jones about what castles reveal about the societies that built them.
Drawing on examples from Troy and medieval Wales to Japan and the United States, Jones explains how rulers used fortifications to make their authority visible, reshape economies and claim control over a people’s history and mythology.
Dan Jones is a historian, author and broadcaster. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a trustee of Historic Royal Palaces and the host of the This Is History podcast. His latest book is Castles: A Fortified History of the World.
Mia Sorenti is Senior Producer at Intelligence Squared.
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