Windsor Castle was built by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest in 1066. He built a ring of fortifications within a short distance of one another for easy reinforcements. Windsor Castle, one of this ring of fortifications, was strategically important because it was close to both the River Thames, a key medieval route into London, and Windsor! Windsor Castle was not built as a a royal residence. The first king to use it as such was Henry I. Henry II came to the throne in 1154 and added his touches by building and modifying the residence between 1165 and 1179. He replaced the wooden palisade surrounding the upper ward with a stone wall interspersed with square towers and built the first King's Gate, among other things. But this is not the important part of going to this place. The reason a kid comes here is to dream of princes, palaces and kings, and to see one of the castles in Europe, built in medieval times that is still used by royalty to this very day. Use this book when you visit Windsor Castle in person and see what other things you can stuff between its covers, such as your own postcards, your tickets, notes, etc; because this is what you are supposed to do with these travel books! You are supposed to use them as a stepping stone to make your way through time and history. All of these books are intended as a learning experience, not to spoon feed a bunch of boring facts, but to encourage additional research and questioning from even the youngest child, so that when they visit any of these places they will shout aloud with delight, "I know what that is! I saw it in my book!" And this is why photographer John D. Weigand and award winning author, and former teacher, and attorney Penelope Dyan again combine their special talents and efforts to give you a small peak inside a very royal world.