Description
Book SynopsisThis is the first in a series of seven books that describe and illustrate the seminal architectural traditions of the world. It describes the origins of the Classical tradition in the mountain temples of Sumer, the pyramids of Egypt and the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. The story continues with the temples, theatres, palaces and council chambers of ancient Greece and Rome, and finishes with the adoption of Classical models to house the new institutions of Christian Europe. Excursions along the way take in Mesoamerica and the Andean littoral, and Africa.
Not simply a profusely illustrated catalogue of buildings, the book also provides their political, technological, social and cultural contexts. It functions equally well as a detailed and comprehensive narrative, as a collection of the great buildings of the world, and as an archive of themes across time and place.
Trade Review'[The first in] a grand survey of the whole of world architecture.' - The Times
'[The first in] a grand survey of the whole of world architecture.' - The Times
‘This book is an absolute tour de force. Architecture is only the beginning; we are told about the civilizations that created it, with examples of their artefacts as well as their buildings.’ - John Julius Norwich
‘Astonishing in its scope, clarity and insight, Tadgell’s survey of the built environment from the beginnings to the twilight of Byzantium works at every level: it will guide the student and stimulate the scholar.’ - David Starkey
Table of ContentsPrologue: Origins Part 1: West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean 1.1. The Fertile Crescent and the Nile Valley 1.2. The Aegean, Anatolia and the Aryans 1.3. Issues From a Dark Age Part 2: Trans-Atlantica 2.1. Mesoamerica 2.2. The Andean Littoral Part 3: The Classical World 3.1. Hellenic Order 3.2. Macedonians and the East 3.3. Republican Rome and its Mentors 3.4. Augustan Rome and its Empire Part 4: Christianity and Empire 4.1. Rome and New Romes 4.2. Justinian and the Apotheosis of Byzantium Epilogue: The Last Half Millennium of Byzantium Glossary Further Reading Index
