A short history of British architecture

by Simon Jenkins

ISBN: 9780241674956

Published: 2025-04-08

The untold and revelatory story of why our country looks like it does, from an acclaimed historian The architecture of Britain is an art gallery in itself. From the streets to squares, through the cities, suburbs and villages, magnificent buildings of eclectic styles are found everywhere. A Short History of British Architecture is the gripping and untold story of why Britain looks the way it does, from prehistoric Stonehenge to the lofty towers of today. Simon Jenkins traces the relentless battles over the European traditions of classicism and gothic. He guides us from the gothic cathedrals of Lincoln, Ely and Wells to the 'prodigy' houses of the Tudor renaissance, and visits the great estates of Georgian London, the docks of Liverpool, the mills of Yorkshire and the chapels of south Wales. The arrival of modernism in the twentieth century politicized public taste, upheaved communities and sought to reconstruct entire cities. It produced Coventry Cathedral and Lloyd's of London,...