[torryquine]

Another scholarly but accessible book, I was expecting a rather dull little tome but was most pleasantly surprised.  It covers all periods, from pre-history to colonial and all your favourite places.  Lavishly illustrated, with diagrams (more interesting sometimes) as well as photographs.  A great book to dip into when curiosity grabs you.

Well worth the price Amazon are asking for it, but buy second hand to save trees as well as money....

http://www.amazon.co...=books&v=glance

[dzibead]

Your reading tips are going to ruin my budget!    ... wait minute ... what budget?

[torryquine]

dzibead, on Aug 15 2006, 08:03 PM, said:

Your reading tips are going to ruin my budget!    ... wait minute ... what budget?

        That's why I recommend second-hand purchase.

[crvlvr]

Thanks. Now I am $25 poorer.

[iwanttogoback]

tq
do you have this? and how recently does it go up to? (if you get my drift!)

[torryquine]

iwanttogoback, on Aug 23 2006, 10:05 AM, said:

tq
do you have this? and how recently does it go up to? (if you get my drift!)

Yes, I've been devouring it's contents for the past couple of weeks - sorry IWTGB - I meant to send you a pm about this as I know it's an area of particular interest to you.

It goes up to colonial/Raj area, so Le Corbusier's work is missing.  It also does not cover the Northeast for some reason (perhaps lack of access at the time it was written), so Sibsagar is missing.  Neither does it cover the Tibetan style, so nothing on the glorious gompas of the Himalayas, which I know is a fascination of yours Dzibead.

On reflection, the language used is rather specialised, but a good glossary is provided.  I might have wished for more about the historical context of the buildings in the text, but otherwise there's a lot of good reading to be had here.