London is one of the world’s greatest cities, and its architecture is a unique heritage. The Tower of London is an urban castle unique in Europe, St Paul’s is one of the world’s greatest domed cathedrals, and the squares and crescents of the West End inspired Haussmann’s Paris. In London, it is the variety of the streets, buildings, and parks that strikes the visitor. No king or government has ever set its mark here. Private ownership has shaped the city, and architects have served a wide variety of clients. London’s Classical era produced an elegant townscape between 1600 and 1830, but medieval, Tudor, and Victorian London were a potpourri of buildings large and small, each making its own design statement. In London: An Architectural History Anthony Sutcliffe takes the reader through two thousand years of architecture from the sublime to the mundane. With over 300 color illustrations the book is intended for the general reader and especially those visiting London for the first time.

Featuring over 200 photographs, this stunning book by renowned television historian Dan Cruickshank tells the history of architecture through the stories of 100 iconic buildings

Why did the colonial Americans give over a significant part of their homes to a grand staircase? Why did the Victorians drape their buildings ornate decoration? And why did American buildings grow so tall in the last decades of the 19th century. This book explores the history of American architecture from prehistoric times to the present, explaining why characteristic architectural forms arose at particular times and in particular places.

London, a fascinating metropolis not just in terms of its history and landmark buildings, is also a city that grew out of villages. Its unique geography is expressed in a mosaic of districts, each with its own distinctive character and pedigree. London's districts, with their patchwork layout of primarily Georgian and Victorian squares and terraces juxtaposed with modern buildings and estates, reflect changing ideals in architecture, urban design and planning as well as shifting values in real estate and the insatiable thirst of its consumers. London is thus both text and context: fossilized social history, layerings of economic, social, and architectural history conveyed in stock brick, stucco, Portland stone, glass and steel. Underpinning this urban landscape is an evolutionary resilience that has maintained the basic spatial framework of the metropolis and sustained its imitable character. The city's institutional framework has been severely ruptured and reinvented time and time again after fires, bombs, floods or wholesale redevelopment. Political unrest and racial conflict have resulted in riots, while successive rounds of investment and disinvestment have replaced elements of the built environment many times over. This book offers an insightful perspective into the distinctiveness of London as expressed through its socially significant buildings and districts.

A revised and expanded, authoritative guide taking the reader through almost 2,000 years of architectural achievement From the remains of the Roman amphitheater to the soaring glass structures of the 21st-century city, London offers a unique architectural experience. Each chapter in this guide contains readily accessible examples of buildings of every period and sets them in their historical contexts. It includes nine fully described walks and easy-to-follow maps to accompany a saunter through the fascinating story of the city's architecture. Also featured are some of the many shops, bars, and restaurants of architectural interest, making this an essential resource for both Londoners and visitors alike.

Explore sixty of London's most surprising, secret and fascinating places.