Martello Towers--those squat, circular buildings on lonely stretches of coastline--have been part of the seaside scene for over 150 years. This book describes how and why they were built, their history, and what they are used for today.

Full-colour guide to the towers built to defend England's coastline. Built to defend against Napoleon's forces, the Martello towers have played a part in both the First and Second World Wars and many are still visible along the coasts of Kent, Sussex, Essex and Suffolk.

Martello Towers Worldwide follows the history of the Martello tower from the construction of the early towers built to protect the Mediterranean shores of Spain and Italy right up to the final towers built in the United Kingdom during the First World War. The book is illustrated with a large number of contemporary and historic photographs, drawings and plans, a very large number of which were not included in the earlier Towers of Strength. These provide the most detailed information yet published about the development of the Martello towers in Britain and overseas. So the book will be of particular interest to those interested in the history of fortifications, architectural conservation and military history generally. It will also be of interest to an international readership as the book now has a gazetteer of towers outside the United Kingdom that remain today together with a chapter describing a number of towers built in the United States. The book supplements the earlier Towers of Strength and such will be an important addition to the existing bibliography of books on Martello towers and fortification.

Martello Towers Worldwide follows the history of the Martello tower from the construction of the early towers built to protect the Mediterranean shores of Spain and Italy right up to the final towers built in the United Kingdom during the First World War.The book is illustrated with a large number of contemporary and historic photographs, drawings and plans, a very large number of which were not included in the earlier Towers of Strength. These provide the most detailed information yet published about the development of the Martello towers in Britain and overseas. So the book will be of particular interest to those interested in the history of fortifications, architectural conservation and military history generally. It will also be of interest to an international readership as the book now has a gazetteer of towers outside the United Kingdom that remain today together with a chapter describing a number of towers built in the United States.The book supplements the earlier Towers of Strength and such will be an important addition to the existing bibliography of books on Martello towers and fortification.

Martello towers were built in the early part of the nineteenth century to defend the coast of England against Napoleonic invasion. Almost 200 years later forty-one of these handsome brick towers still stand along the coast of Kent, Sussex, Essex and Suffolk. The chest of their construction was comparable in relative terms to that of of today's Trident missile system. The line of towers was never tested in action, but acted as an effective deterrent against invasion. Today Martello towers are a familiar sight from Aldeburgh in Suffolk to Newhaven in Sussex, but it is generally known that similar towers were built by the Royal Engineers to defend British interests in other parts of the world. Martello towers were being built as late as the 1850s as far afield as Canada, Mauritius, Australia and the Mediterranean. This book, illustrated with numerous photographs and plans, is the first comprehensive and detailed study of the known Martello towers built by the British. Its description of their construction, use, current condition and fate will fascinate the enquiring reader, as well as being a source of interest to visitors. Many of the towers remain landmarks today, Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour being a case in point.