A Dictionary of Architecture - Tapa dura

From Aalto to Ziggurat, this work is an accessible guide to architecture and its history. The book contains over 3500 entries and covers all periods of Western architectural history, from ancient times to the present day, in cultures ranging from Assyrian architecture to Flemish Mannerism. With entries for caternary, ingle-nook, misericord, and scissor-truss, this dictionary aims to cover as wide a range of architectural terms as possible in an accessible style. These terms are made more understandable with 150 illustrations, which help to differentiate between the various types of, for example, arches or crosses. There are also longer entries which explain the different schools of architecture and put them in their historical context. Biographical entries are provided for a great number of architects from the ancients to leading figures of today. From Brunelleschi and Hawksmoor to Le Corbusier and Richard Rogers, each entry outlines the architect's importance and gives examples of their most notable buildings.

James Stevens Curl is Research Professor of Architectural History at the Department of Architecture, De Montfort University, Leicester. He won the Sir Banister Fletcher Award for Best Architectural Book of the Year for his book The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry.