`a densely fascinating guide' Steven Poole, The Guardian Review
`an excellent introduction to architecture ... one to recommend to students, friends and family, which is quite an achievement!' Robert Tavernor, University of Bath
`There is really no better book out there. Ballantyne is a beautiful stylist, and the book combines intellegence with a completely beguiling wruterly style.' Sunday Herald (Glasgow)
`will justify the ambition of every young and aspiring architect - but will also stimulate anyone at all curious about buildings ... Clear and jargon-less it shows how all buildings - good, bad and indifferent - are the truest indicators of the state of a society and of its culture.' Joseph Rykwert, University of Pennsylvania
About the AuthorAndrew Ballantyne qualified and practised as an architect, and then moved into academic work. He has held research and teaching posts at the universities of Sheffield, Bath, and Newcastle, where he is now Professor of Architecture. He has written on architectural history and theory, and his previous books are Architecture, Landscape and Liberty and What is Architecture?.