English Architecture - A Concise History

London: Thames and Hudson - The World of Art Library, 1979 From the back cover: Every generation needs its own history of English architecture: new facts are discovered, old assumptions may turn out to be wrong, time's perspective brings different facets into prominence. David Watkin, one of the most brilliant of our younger architectural historians, here provides a brief but highly readable outline of the whole story, from Saxon times to the present, centred on buildings that people can actually see today. His European perspective illuminates England's surprisingly close stylistic links with France, from the impact of Jumièges Abbey in the eleventh century to that of Le Corbusier in the twentieth. The great flowering of Romanesque under the Normans, the development of the Gothic style through its various phases - Early English, Decorated and perpendicular - are clearly described, taking account of the latest research (for instance, the French origins of Perpendicular). After sections on the Tudor and Jacobean periods, the Renaissance, Baroque, Palladianism and Neo Classicism, come the two chapters that will no doubt arouse the most controversy: those on Victorian and modern architecture. Unlike previous historians, Dr Watkin sees no falling off in quality in the nineteenth century, nor does he regard the Modern Movement as the logical consummation of all architectural progress, but simply as a style like any other, destined to be eventually superseded. --------------------------------------------------- 219 pages, 309 illustrations and a comprehensive index ---------- Orders of $100.00 or more are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Size: Approx 6 " Wide - 8½ " Tall