A short history of British architecture : from Stonehenge to the Shard / Simon Jenkins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jenkins, Simon, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture--History.

Architecture.

Architecture--Great Britain.

Architecture, British--History.

Architecture, British.

Physical Description:

viii, 311 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, color photographs ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Penguin Books, Ltd., 2024.

Summary:

"The architecture of Britain is an art gallery all around us. From our streets to squares, through our cities, suburbs and villages, we are surrounded by magnificent buildings of eclectic styles. 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. Bestselling historian 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 politicised public taste, upheaved communities and sought to reconstruct entire cities. It produced Coventry Cathedral and Lloyd's of London, but also the brutalist monoliths of Sheffield's Park Hill, Glasgow's Cumbernauld and London's South Bank. Only in the 1970s did the public at last give voice to what became the conservation revolution - a movement in which Jenkins played a leading role, both as deputy chairman of English Heritage and chairman of the National Trust, and in the saving of iconic buildings such as St Pancras International and Covent Garden. Jenkins shows that everyone is a consumer of architecture and makes the case for the importance of everyone learning to speak its language. A Short History of British Architecture is a celebration of our national treasures, a lament of our failures - and a call to arms"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Introduction: let the buildings speak

Stonehenge to Rome (3000 BC-AD 400)

The Saxon era (400-1066)

Norman Britain (1066-1170)

Gothic dawn (1170-1245)

The glory of decorated (1245-1348)

Perpendicular climatic (1348-1500)

Tudor prodigies (1500-1616)

Inigo Jones to Christopher Wren (1616-1688)

Burlington versus Baroque (1688-1750)

The Golden Age (1750-1810)

Nash and the Italianate (1810-1825)

The battle of the styles (1825-1850)

Palaces of prosperity and faith (1850-1870)

Sweetness and light (1870-1900)

Fit for empire (1900-1920)

Homes for heroes (1920-1930)

Modernisn emergent (1930-1940)

Modernism triumphant (1940-1965)

The dawn of hestitation (1965-1973)

The conservation counter-revolution (1973-1986)

The age of spectacle (1986-2020)

Conclusion: full shard ahead

Glossary.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Albert M. Greenfield Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780241674956

0241674956

OCLC:

1458313082