Gothic Architecture

The Gothic World offers an overview of this popular field whilst also extending critical debate in exciting new directions such as film, politics, fashion, architecture, fine art and cyberculture.

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.

Well written and wonderfully informed, this well designed book presents a comprehensive review of the appearance and use of the great cathedrals and abbey churches built across the middle ages in France and England. It also includes a wonderfully precise presentation of the social, economic, and political order of the time, and it discusses how the great buildings were built and what is known of their builders. Overall, it is the best general introduction I know of, easily accessible to non experts and a wonderful review for the better informed.

The Judeo-Christian tradition has had a profound impact on Western civilization and in particular on Western art. From the flying buttresses and soaring vaults of the Gothic cathedral, to Michelangelo's powerfully rendered frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, to the great bronze baptistery doors in Florence, to Marc Chagall's majestic tapestries for the Knesset in Jerusalem, biblical stories and Christian themes form an integral part in our artistic heritage.