Is it possible to conduct a concise survey on the immense subject that is English architecture? David Watkin proves that it is: from Saxon times to the present day, Watkin directs the reader on a rich and enlightening journey that outlines the whole story, focusing on buildings that can still be seen today. The emphasis of this admirable and highly readable study is on the most exciting and ground-breaking periods and styles of English architectural genius.

This comprehensive, well-illustrated survey of English architecture provides an evenhanded, straightforward history from Anglo-Saxon times to the end of the twentieth century. Concentrating on buildings that can still be seen today, David Watkin discusses all the styles and periods of English architecture, including Norman, early Gothic, Perpendicular, Tudor and Jacobean, Baroque, Classical, and Victorian.

The emphasis is on the high points of English creative genius as expressed in the art of architecture by Edwin Lutyens, Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, John Soane, James Stirling, Richard Rogers, and a host of others. This updated edition includes a new preface, a revised bibliography, and an expanded chapter on twentieth-century architecture that brings the story up to the present.