The thrilling finale of the bold and fantastical Chelsea Trilogy finds Sophie Swankowski in an ancient castle in Poland--and at the center of an ages-old battle. Even with her magic powers, can one 13-year-old from Massachusetts really save the world?

The History of Castles is the ultimate guide to the world’s most fascinating castles and strongholds. Chapters include information on castles from France, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. An ideal book for history enthusiasts, people planning to take a vacation near one of these castles, and for anyone who is enamored of these breathtaking buildings.

Everyone in the broken-down town of Chelsea, Massachussetts, has a story too worn to repeat—from the girls who play the pass-out game just to feel like they're somewhere else, to the packs of aimless teenage boys, to the old women from far away who left everything behind. But there’s one story they all still tell: the oldest and saddest but most hopeful story, the one about the girl who will be able to take their twisted world and straighten it out. The girl who will bring the magic. Could Sophie Swankowski be that girl? With her tangled hair and grubby clothes, her weird habits and her visions of a filthy, swearing mermaid who comes to her when she’s unconscious, Sophie could be the one to uncover the power flowing beneath Chelsea’s potholed streets and sludge-filled rivers, and the one to fight the evil that flows there, too. Sophie might discover her destiny, and maybe even in time to save them all.

This volume is the first publication to draw upon the mass of information provided by the Historic Towns Atlases in order to explore comparative questions in medieval urban history. The volume addresses the wider question of comparative urban studies, the processes that determined the morphological formation of towns, and the symbolic meaning of large-scale town plans in their cultural context.

Throughout their stormy history the Teutonic Knights of Germany have always been the most controversial brotherhood ever to call themselves 'Knights of Christ'.They were the most warlike of the religious orders, and this is reflected in the architecture they left behind. In contrast to the Templars who are remembered for their churches, the Teutonic memorials are the magnificent brick-built castles they built as a result of their conquest of Prussia between 1230 and 1380. Many of these dramatic fortresses still exist today in what is now Poland and provide a unique example of an architectural style that closely reflects the nature of the Order.