Mid-Victorian Masterpiece by Cocks, Barnett - 1977

UK: BCA, 1977. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. H/B 208 pages, condition is very good. The New Palace of Westminster stands today as London's most widely recognised landmark. Begun in the reign of William IV, and built to the plans of Sir Charles Barry, it was not completed until 1870, when it was fairly regarded as a masterpiece of mid-Victorian architecture. Few, however, would guess at the wry history that lies within its walls: a history of construction and subsequent desecration which the members of the 'mother of parliaments' have, with their own special skill or folly, stage-managed throughout the years. As a tale of missed opportunities, incompetence and bumbledom. This story stands as a classic. It opened with the tragi-comedy of the fire in 1834, whose inevitability had been forseen for years, but which nonetheless blazed for hours before steps were taken to extinguish it. Yet the crowd of thrilled sightseers who witnessed the unrivalled spectacle of its destruction could continue today as the destruction itself continues, to witness the trees in New Palace Yard that are withering and dying in their concrete beds an attempt to hide the white elephant of an underground car park.