A History of Western Architecture

"In this highly acclaimed survey David Watkin traces the history of western architecture from the earliest times in Mesopotamia to Egypt to the dramatic impact of CAD (computer-aided esign) on architectural practice at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Adopting an approach that sees architectural history as a living continuity rather than a museum of neatly labelled styles, the author emphasizes the ongoing vitality of the Classical language of architecture, underlining the continuity between, say, the work of Ictinus in fifth-century BC Athens and that of McKim, Mead and White in the twentieth-century New York. This authoriatative, comrpehensive and highly illustrated book provides a fresh perspective which will be invaluable to students and anyone interested in the history of architecture." -- back cover.