A brilliant, offbeat celebration of the great hodgepodge of British buildings' Thomas Marks, Sunday Telegraph From soaring Victorian railway stations to Edwardian terraces, from Perpendicular churches to Strawberry Hill, Britain has an architecture unrivalled in fertility, invention and heart-stopping beauty. And with some very strong feelings about window sills, Harry Mount could not be better qualified to survey it. Meandering through garden suburbs and cathedral closes, discovering Moghul palaces in Gloucestershire and Egyptian sphinxes in Islington, A Lust for Window Sills is rich with anecdote, allusion and such inspired digressions as where to find the ugliest gargoyles and a liquid history of watering holes from gin palaces to the Rovers Return.
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** 'Marvellous . . . this book is going to do for architectural history what Lynne Truss's EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES did for punctuation . . . Erudite, playful, witty and inspiring, it is destined to transform the way we look at old buildings . . . Barely a sentence passes without some fascinating and often incredibly useful titbit revealing itself . . . . You'll wonder how you lived without it (LITERARY REVIEW )
** 'brilliant, offbeat celebration . . . Harry Mount offers an uncluttered survey of British architectural history and clear, memorable explanations. It is packed with intelligent tips . . . Mounts is an irreverent entertaining guide - Thomas Marks, DAILY (** 'I have been endeavouring to console myself with Harry Mount's rather brilliant book A LUST FOR WINDOW SILLS, reckoning that an ability to distinguish my Doric from my Ionic might distract from my festering pile. It is damn fine stuff’ )
Hannah Betts, INDEPENDENT (** ‘Mr Mount has produced an engaging text, amusingly written with a rich leaven of anecdote. There is too, a wealth of literary quotation and references to film and television, all refreshing departures in an introductory book on architecture. For all Mr )
John Goodhall, COUNTRY Life (** 'It's a stroll, a jaunt, possibly a meander, taking the reader through all the architectural periods, around most building types and down numerous strange-smelling alleys. In his previous book, AMO, AMAS, AMAT, Harry Mount succeeded in introducing Lati )
** 'brilliant, offbeat celebration . . . Harry Mount offers an uncluttered survey of British architectural history and clear, memorable explanations. It is packed with intelligent tips . . . Mounts is an irreverent entertaining guide - Thomas Marks, DAILY (** 'I have been endeavouring to console myself with Harry Mount's rather brilliant book A LUST FOR WINDOW SILLS, reckoning that an ability to distinguish my Doric from my Ionic might distract from my festering pile. It is damn fine stuff’ )
Hannah Betts, INDEPENDENT (** ‘Mr Mount has produced an engaging text, amusingly written with a rich leaven of anecdote. There is too, a wealth of literary quotation and references to film and television, all refreshing departures in an introductory book on architecture. For all Mr )
John Goodhall, COUNTRY Life (** 'It's a stroll, a jaunt, possibly a meander, taking the reader through all the architectural periods, around most building types and down numerous strange-smelling alleys. In his previous book, AMO, AMAS, AMAT, Harry Mount succeeded in introducing Lati )
Review
'It's a stroll, a jaunt, possibly a meander, taking the reader through all the architectural periods, around most building types and down numerous strange-smelling alleys. In his previous book, AMO, AMAS, AMAT, Harry Mount succeeded in introducing Latin to an audience that had not known that it was equal to the classics. Here he does the same for architecture. Clearly he is passionate about it; the enthusiasm rubs off'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Mount is to be congratulated on producing a study which is lucid and funny, and equally useful to the amateur fan as well as the architectural expert. His great gift is to make what is (too often) solemn great fun. He did it with Latin; now he has done it with buildings.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By Litchfield
Format:Hardcover
Just when the world seems to be collapsing in economic ruin, Mount gives us a book-full of reasons to take pleasure in what we see around us. I'll be buying several copies to give to people this Christmas - and I expect to see this charming, clever, hugely entertaining tome popping up in people's homes for years to come. Mount has staked a powerful claim to be the James Lees-Milne of our time.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Bookworm1973
Format:Paperback
I already knew a fair bit about old buildings and loved dating them and pointing out my favourite bits to anyone who would listen, but I love this book. It's well illustrated, characterful but still sufficiently detailed to be informative. It's not a scholarly essay - which it hardly claims to be - but it readable, memorable and fun.
By Diana Savill
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Really interesting. Has made me look at buildings in a new light. Fascinating insights into who lived there and how houses have changed over the years. All kinds of amusing comments about the buildings, towns and historical insights.
Probably not a book to read from cover to cover, but taken in smaller doses it is great
Probably not a book to read from cover to cover, but taken in smaller doses it is great
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is perfect for people like me who often cross roads without thinking, paying more attention to a lovely stained glass window at the side of the road than to the oncoming traffic! It is really well written and has a good sense of humour.
9 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. G. Cooke
Format:Hardcover
A glorified list of almost interesting architectural fact and anecdote, interspersed with a load of barely concealed namedropping.
The description of the stonemasons technique of rustication is particularly badly described.
The authors engorged ego does not deserve this publishing contract, but then he has 'friends' in the right places....
For a more accurate and interesting description of architectural theory try Classical Architecture - A Complete Handbook by Robert Adam.
The description of the stonemasons technique of rustication is particularly badly described.
The authors engorged ego does not deserve this publishing contract, but then he has 'friends' in the right places....
For a more accurate and interesting description of architectural theory try Classical Architecture - A Complete Handbook by Robert Adam.
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