Robert and James Adam dominated British architecture for the second half of the 18th century. The key period in the development of the Adam style was their time as Grand Tourists in Italy - three years for Robert, four for James. As architects they studied and drew after the Antique, as Grand Tourists they formed a vast collection of paintings and drawings. It was this collection that was sold during the years 1765-1821. The drawings themselves were acquired by Sir John Soane in 1833 for his new Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. These drawings, together with the brothers' fascinating letters and James's journal, form a unique picture. This book gives an account of the brothers' aspirations and achievements in making their Grand Tours, tracing James's role as well as Robert's. The way in which they composed their architecture and even the manner in which they drew in watercolour and wash was the achievement of these years as Grand Tourists. AUTHOR: Professor Tait is an art historian with a particular interest in 18th-century architecture and landscape. He published a survey of the Soane Adam collection in 1996, Robert Adam, the Creative Mind. He is also the author of Robert Adam: drawings and imagination (1993). SELLING POINTS: *First of a planned series of five illustrated books on the works of the Adam brothers held at Sir John Soane's Museum (25 September 2008 to 14 February 2009), described by Robert Adam as 'the whole Soul, Body and Guts' of their architecture *The text by world-renowned art historian Professor Alan Tait accompanies the stunning reproduction of 1,000 or so drawings, including many that have never been published before *These drawings, together with the brothers' personal letters and James's journal make up a remarkable document for all those interested in 18th-century architecture and Italy 115 colour & 11 b/w illustrations

During the second half of the eighteenth century British architecture moved away from the dominant school of classicism in favour of a more creative freedom of expression. At the forefront of this change were architect brothers Robert and James Adam. Kondo’s work places them within the context of eighteenth-century intellectual thought.

Known today chiefly for his surrender to the American forces at Saratoga, New York, in 1777, General John Burgoyne was one of the most interesting – and extraordinary – figures of the eighteenth century. In From the Battlefield to the Stage Norman Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign but also elements of Burgoyne’s eventful life that have never been adequately explored. At the age of twenty-eight, Burgoyne eloped with Charlotte Stanley, the daughter of the immensely wealthy and influential Earl of Derby. Though initially furious, the earl, convinced of the young officer’s good character, eventually forgave the couple, and the Stanley family became a major influence in Burgoyne’s life and career. He was a socialite, welcome in London’s fashionable drawing rooms, a high-stakes gambler in its elite clubs, and a playwright whose social comedies were successfully performed on the London stage. As a member of Parliament for thirty years, Burgoyne supported the rule of law, fought the corruption of the East India Company, and advocated religious tolerance. From the Battlefield to the Stage paints a vivid portrait of General John Burgoyne, remembering him not only for his role in one of Britain’s worst military disasters but also as a brave, talented, humane man.

"In 'The Ruins Lesson,' the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning poet-critic Susan Stewart explores the West's fascination with ruins in literature, visual art, and architecture, covering a vast chronological and geographical range from the ancient Egyptians to T. S. Eliot. In the multiplication of images of ruins, artists, and writers she surveys, Stewart shows how these thinkers struggled to recover lessons out of the fragility or our cultural remains. She tries to understand the appeal in the West of ruins and ruination, particularly Roman ruins, in the work and thought of Goethe, Piranesi, Blake, and Wordsworth, whom she returns to throughout the book. Her sweeping, deeply felt study encompasses the founding legends of broken covenants and original sin; Christian transformations of the classical past; the myths and rituals of human fertility; images of ruins in Renaissance allegory, eighteenth-century melancholy, and nineteenth-century cataloguing; and new gardens that eventually emerged from ancient sites of disaster"--

The award-winning First Edition of A Global History of Architecture was a publishing event that forever changed the way architectural history is viewed and studied. This Second Edition surpasses the first with a lavish new design, illustrated throughout with drawings and photographs in full color, and even more maps and diagrams detailing global interconnections. The signature drawings of Francis D.K. Ching are more informative than ever, updated with scale, annotation, and function added where needed. This revision is sure to remain the most relevant book on the topic.