Medieval history Coloring Book - a Surprise Castle exclusive

24 hand-illustrated scenes from the Middle Ages, from a stone catapult to a knighting ceremony.

Raise the standard. Pick up the pencil.

A hand-drawn adult coloring book, 24 scenes that run from castle banquets and tournament jousts to scriptoriums and Viking landings. The pace is set by the slow draw of a longbow and the patient illumination of a manuscript page, not the next notification.

Step up to a catapult launching a stone sphere near a castle under cloudy sky. Walk to a multi-tower castle on a waterfall cliff. Pull up to a banner-flanked court of armored knights with shields and swords. Then to a royal couple on horses exiting castle gates flanked by helmeted guards.

The pages keep moving. A sailing ship with billowing canvas on wavy ocean. A bearded healer holding medicinal herbs at his table. A stone watchtower on a mountain with spiral staircase. A falconer in cloak holding a hooded eagle before castle countryside.

Wander through the centuries. A castle banquet hall with stone fireplace and laden feast table. A Crusader knight holding a cross-emblazoned shield. A medieval harvest with peasants cutting grain near a church. A windmill with rotating blades on a stone base.

Keep going. A knight with white-cross shield before fortified castle gates. A queen on her throne holding scepter and orb. A medieval village street of timber-frame houses. A jousting tournament with knights, lances, and pavilion stands. A stone bridge with three arches over a river. A monk illuminating a manuscript in a candlelit tower library. An archer drawing his bow at the ramparts. A Viking ship with dragon prow at a coastal settlement. A market merchant selling bread and vegetables. Nuns walking through a monastery courtyard. A blacksmith forging a sword with hammer raised. And to close, a king knighting a kneeling squire in the castle hall.

There's a reason coloring sticks around. It gives a busy mind somewhere to land, and in this case that somewhere is the chevron on a knight's shield or the gold leaf of an illuminated initial. Some pages are bold and forgiving. Others will eat a whole afternoon. Works fine with colored pencils, fine-tip markers, or gel pens.

If you know someone with the entire Bernard Cornwell oeuvre, a friend who reenacts at Renaissance fairs, or anyone who's read Sharon Penman twice, this is for them. It's also for the person who'd quietly rather shade a castle banquet on a Saturday than scroll.

Cross the moat.

Inside you'll find 24 scenes: a stone-launching catapult near a castle, a multi-tower castle on a waterfall cliff, a banner-flanked court of armored knights, a royal couple exiting castle gates with guards, a sailing ship under billowing canvas, a bearded healer with medicinal herbs, a stone watchtower with spiral staircase, a falconer with hooded eagle, a castle banquet hall with feast table, a Crusader knight with cross-emblem shield, a medieval harvest with peasants and church, a stone-base windmill with blades, a knight with white-cross shield before castle gates, a queen on her throne, a medieval village street, a jousting tournament, a three-arched stone bridge, a monk illuminating a manuscript, an archer at the ramparts, a Viking ship at a coastal settlement, a market merchant with bread, nuns in a monastery courtyard, a blacksmith forging a sword, and a king knighting a squire.