Thurley's treatise on Whitehall Palace delivers what is expected for the price and format. At 127 pages it isn't ponderous, and Thurley's normally verbose and scholarly discourse is toned down to some decidedly light editorial content. At worst, the scholarly review of Whitehall from an architectural standpoint suffers from a simple lack of development. The exposition delivers, but leaves something to be desired in detail. Perhaps in keeping with the hodgepodge nature of Whitehall's structure and history, the book itself is at points poorly organized, particularly in points of figures and their connection to paragraphs or points in the narrative. Many of them seemed mere add-ons for the sake of visual aesthetics, though this critic isn't complaining for some rare insights into this strange monument of English architectural history. The plans are good and useful, though a scale would have been appreciated for those clearly drawn for the text. They also appear in Thurley's other work on Tudor palaces, though they are no less valuable for this.
Overall, B+. It gets the job done, and although it spends too much time on reviewing the history of the monarchs rather than their specific role in the palace's history and structure, it provides a useful and educational perspective to something many would not have experienced otherwise. I have great respect for Thurley and his work, and this does not wholly disappoint.
PTM