This inspiring compact history of the medieval building crafts, techniques, and materials used to construct these architectural giants is destined for the bookshelves of lovers of castles, cathedrals, and the art of architecture.

Spanning the 8th to 15th centuryies, Alain Erlande-Brandenburg takes readers through the early builders of medieval towns (8th - 9th century) to the Gregorian Reform (10th century) and the Gothic period (11th-14th century).

But the main focus is on the architect (also called a Master Mason) and the architectural process, which encompasses informative details about all aspects of medieval construction and specialized crafts - i.e., bridges and cathedral roofs - followed by the origins of organized guilds and architectural tools (templates, working drawings, and building manuals).

Beautifully illustrated with pictures and diagrams throughout plus bonus medieval documents correlated to each chapter enhances the content. This may be a short history (only 174 pages), but it is packed with enough information to give any reader a good understanding of medieval construction and architecture.