Free (DRM-free PDF) Danish Medieval Castles [Danish Castles Architecture/Archaeology]

[ATDrake]

Danish Medieval Castles by Rikke Agnete Olsen (Wikipedia DK) with illustrations by Janne Klerk, translated by Joan F. Davidson, is is her lavishly-illustrated historical architecture/archaeology accessibly-written survey of Exactly What It Says In The Title, done in a coffee table book sort of style with plenty of historical backgrounder and general how-they-lived sort of info (including a medieval pancake recipe!), free courtesy of the Aarhus University Press in Denmark.

This is their English-language Free Book of the Month selection for November. It's a translation of the original Danish-language title Danske middelalderborge, which we've previously received as a freebie earlier this year, in case you wanted to try some language practice.

Currently free throughout November directly @ the university's dedicated promo page (DRM-free PDF available worldwide), and you can read more about the title on its regular catalogue page.

For some reason, this is even larger in the English-language version, at ~60 megs, which you probably don't want to download on a device that has data limits.

Description
Danish Medieval Castles is the first comprehensive overview in English of the castles and fortifications that are known from medieval Denmark. The book tells the story of who built the castles, when they did so, and why this happened.

Over the past decades several castle buildings and earthworks have been examined, a few new archaeological sites have been found, and old excavations have been reopened. All of this has resulted in new knowledge. The book also describes everyday life in Dansish castles in the Middle Ages, and examines the historic importance of the castles in times of peace and turbulence.

[tubemonkey]

Thanks - much appreciated

Do you know why they don't offer the same book in both languages for the freebie?

[ATDrake]

I imagine it may be in order to keep some variety in the subject matter and also because it would probably severely limit their catalogue if they stuck to bilingual-available offerings.

AUP primarily publishes in Danish, so not all their books are available in English translation (and vice versa for the ones composed of academic essays by various international authors), especially not the ones on more specialized Nordic-local history/interest subject matter which they do like to offer. Additionally, we've gotten freebies of foreign academic books translated into Danish, whose other-language rights are held by different publishers.

So maintaining symmetry each month seems like it could get tricky.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

I imagine it may be in order to keep some variety in the subject matter and also because it would probably severely limit their catalogue if they stuck to bilingual-available offerings.

AUP primarily publishes in Danish, so not all their books are available in English translation (and vice versa for the ones composed of academic essays by various international authors), especially not the ones on more specialized Nordic-local history/interest subject matter which they do like to offer. Additionally, we've gotten freebies of foreign academic books translated into Danish, whose other-language rights are held by different publishers.

So maintaining symmetry each month seems like it could get tricky.

Thanks, that makes sense.

[David Munch]

Thanks. I grew up quite close to the one described halfway down page 158 (Through page 160), and have played in those ruins plenty of times, so now I can actually catch up on the history behind it!

[ATDrake]

Just a reminder that today will probably be the last day to grab the freebie if you're interested.