A revised and updated edition of Sir John Summerson's classic book. Derived from the principles
of Greek and Roman architecture in antiquity the classical style has long dominated the
history of western architecture from the Renaissance to the present. Sir John Summerson¿s
timeless text as relevant today as it was when first published distils the visual language of
architecture into its core classical elements and illustrates that building throughout the
ages express an awareness of the `grammar¿ of style and its rules even if they vary break or
poetically contradict them. From the original edifices of Greece and Rome to the
recapitulations and innovations of the Renaissance the explosive rhetoric of the Baroque to
the grave statements of Neo-classicism and finally the exuberant eclecticism of the
Victorians and Edwardians to the 'stripped Neo-classicism' of some of the moderns Summerson
explains how every period has employed classical language to make their statement. With a new
introduction by academic and architectural historian Alan Powers this introduction continues
to be one of the defining texts on the subject and is essential reading for all students of
architecture.
