Bess of Hardwick was one of the most remarkable people who lived in England in the late Tudor period. Born a daughter of a relatively humble Midlands family, she was married and widowed four times, on each occasion raising her social status until she ultimately became the Countess of Shrewsbury. An enthusiast of fine buildings, she left behind Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House as prime examples of Elizabethan prodigy houses. She also left important genetic legacies in the form of her descendants, and is an ancestress of much of the British aristocracy for the last few hundred years. Whilst she lived at a time when the laws and customs of the land made it difficult for women to exercise any real form of economic or social independence, Bess succeeded in acquiring a personal fortune which not only made her the second wealthiest woman in the kingdom after Queen Elizabeth herself, but for generations after her served as the financial bedrock upon which her descendants would continue to build, in some cases right up to the present day.

Praise for the First Edition "Because of its exceptionally wide perspective, even architectural historians who do not teach general survey courses are likely to enjoy and appreciate it." —Annali d'architettura "Not only does A Global History of Architecture own the territory (of world architecture), it pulls off this audacious task with panache, intelligence, and—for the most part—grace." —Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians Revised and updated—the compelling history of the world's great architectural achievements Organized along a global timeline, A Global History of Architecture, Second Edition has been updated and revised throughout to reflect current scholarship. Spanning from 3,500 b.c.e. to the present, this unique guide is written by an all-star team of architectural experts in their fields who emphasize the connections, contrasts, and influences of architectural movements throughout history. The architectural history of the world comes to life through a unified framework for interpreting and understanding architecture, supplemented by rich drawings from the renowned Frank Ching, as well as brilliant photographs. This new Second Edition: Delivers more coverage of non-Western areas, particularly Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, and Pre-Columbian America Is completely re-designed with full-color illustrations throughout Incorporates additional drawings by Professor Ching, including new maps with more information and color Meets the requirements set by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) for "non-Western" architecture in history education. Offers new connections to a companion Web site, including Google EarthTM coordinates for ease of finding sites. Architecture and art enthusiasts will find A Global History of Architecture, Second Edition perpetually at their fingertips.

First published in 1977.

In this study, Kari Boyd McBride defines 'country house discourse' as a network of fictions that articulated and mediated early modern concerns about the right use of land and the social relationships that land engendered. McBride provides new perspectives on the roles of the discourse she identifies, linking it with a number of larger historical shifts during the time period. Her interdisciplinary focus allows her to bring together a wide range of material-including architecture, poetry, oil painting, economic and social history, and proscriptive literature-in order to examine their complex interrelationship, revealing connections unexplored in more narrowly focused studies. McBride delineates the ways in which the country house (on the landscape and in literature) provided a locus for the construction of gender, race, class, and nation. Of particular interest is her focus on women's relationships to the country house: their writing of country house poetry and their representation in that literature; their designing of country houses and their lives within those architectural spaces (whether as lady of the house or domestic servant). One of the most important and promising insights in this study is that country house discourse was not simply static and nostalgic, but actually worked to mediate change. All in all, she presents a fresh and detailed study of the great disparities between country house reality and the ideals that informed country house discourse.

"A dynamic portrait. . . . Bess of Hardwick emerges from Devices and Desires as a fascinating and influential woman well deserving of many historians' attention." -- BBC History The critically acclaimed author of Serving Victoria brilliantly illuminates the life of the little-known Bess of Hardwick--next to Queen Elizabeth I, the richest and most powerful woman in sixteenth-century England. Aided by a quartet of judicious marriages and a shrewd head for business, Bess of Hardwick rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most respected and feared Countesses in Elizabethan England--an entrepreneur who built a family fortune, created glorious houses--the last and greatest built as a widow in her 70s--and was deeply involved in matters of the court, including the custody of Mary Queen of Scots. While Bess cultivated many influential courtiers, she also collected numerous enemies. Her embittered fourth husband once called her a woman of "devices and desires," while nineteenth-century male historians portrayed her as a monster--"a woman of masculine understanding and conduct, proud, furious, selfish and unfeeling." In the twenty-first century she has been neutered by female historians who recast her as a soft-hearted sort, much maligned, and misunderstood. As Kate Hubbard reveals, the truth of this highly accomplished woman lies somewhere in between: ruthless and scheming, Bess was sentimental and affectionate as well. Hubbard draws on more than 230 of Bess's letters, including correspondence with the Queen and her councilors, fond (and furious) missives between her husbands and children, and notes sharing titillating court gossip. The result is a rich, compelling portrait of a true feminist icon centuries ahead of her time--a complex, formidable, and decidedly modern woman captured in full as never before.

Studies the lives of the women of the royal houses of Tudor and Stuart in late-sixteenth-century England as they illustrate nearly every aspect of life for English women of the time.