Synopses & Reviews
When the late Spiro Kostof's
A History of Architecture appeared in 1985, it was universally hailed as a masterpiece--one of the finest books on architecture ever written. Now, updated and expanded, this classic reference continues to bring to readers the full array of civilization's architectural achievements.
Insightful, engagingly written and graced with close to a thousand superb illustrations, the Second Edition of this extraordinary volume offers a sweeping narrative that examines architecture as it reflects the social, economic, and technological aspects of human history. The scope of the book is astonishing. Kostof examines a surprisingly wide variety of man-made structures: prehistoric huts and the TVA, the pyramids of Giza and the Rome railway station, the ziggurat and the department store. Kostof considered every building worthy of attention, every structure a potential source of insight, whether it be prehistoric hunting camps at Terra Amata, or the caves at Lascaux with their magnificent paintings, or a twenty-story hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
Review
Praise for the previous edition:
"A magnificent guided tour through mankind's architecture....This splendid book is that rara avis, a treat for any reader and a first-rate textbook on the subject."--The New York Times Book Review
Review
Praise for the previous edition:"A magnificent guided tour through mankind's architecture....This splendid book is that rara avis, a treat for any reader and a first-rate textbook on the subject."--The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Spiro Kostof was Professor of Architectural History at the University of California at Berkeley, and was a former president of the Society of Architectural Historians.
Greg Castillo was Kostof's research assistant and literary executor.
Table of Contents
A PLACE ON EARTH 1. The Study of What We Built
2. The Cave and the Sky: Stone Age Europe
3. The Rise of the City: Architecture in Western Asia
4. The Architecture of Ancient Egypt
5. Bronze Age Cities: The Aegean and Asia Minor
6. Greek Temple and "Barbarian" Alternatives
7. Polis and Akropolis
8. The Hellenistic Realm
9. Rome: Caput Mundi
10. The World at Large: Roman Concurrences
MEASURING UP
11. The Triumph of Christ
12. The Mediterranean in the Early Middle Ages
13. The Birth of Nations: Europe after Charles
14. The French Manner
15. The Urbanization of Europe
16. Edges of Medievalism
17. The Renaissance: Ideal and Fad
18. Spain and the New World
19. Istanbul and Venice
20. The Popes as Planners: Rome 150-1650
21. Absolutism and Bourgeoisie: European Architecture 1600-1750
THE SEARCH FOR SELF
22. Architecture for a New World
23. Architectural Art and the Landscape of Industry
24. The American Experience
25. Victorian Environments
26. The Trials of Modernism
27. Architecture and the State: Interwar Years
28. At Peace with the Past: The Last Decades
29. Designing the Fin-de-Siecle