What do you think?
Rate this book
The Architecture of Medieval Britain
Subtitled `a social history', this book Ä with its feast of fine pictures Ä is about largesse (and the distribution of surplus wealth), the growing demand for personal privacy and improvements in domestic comfort. `Life styles are my subject', writes Colin Platt, `and buildings are my documents Ä the most sensitive and reliable of social indicators'.
Hardcover
First published January 23, 1991
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 22, 2024
Platt says buildings are evidence of social history. Does he adequately describe the squalor/exploitation that produced the grandeur/glamor we today see in the photos?
March 20, 2023
Beautiful pictures.
December 8, 2019
I am the first person to write a review for a book published in 1990.
It was awarded the Wolfson prize for 1991. It is "the UK’s most prestigious history prize."
"The Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually to promote and recognise outstanding history written for a general audience. First awarded in 1972, it remains a beacon of the best historical writing being produced in the UK, reflecting qualities of both readability and excellence in writing and research.
Books are judged on the extent to which they are carefully researched, well-written and accessible to the non-specialist reader."
This book is 295 pages of text and and includes 375 photographs (many full page). In addition, there are 18 pages listing the 1183 footnotes. So the research component is fulfilled.
Once past the beautifully written preface, the information came way too fast for me. I was 40% into the book before I really started to understand. That is mostly due to my lack of knowledge of British history and geography. He crammed lists of examples in most sentences. He wrote nine other books on the subjects covered. So anything covered was probably in more detail in his other books.
But I did glean a few facts that I did not know before. And it was more understandable as I went along.
I would recommend that readers get this from the library or buy a cheap used copy as I did. You can always get a better copy, if you so desire. It is the size of an art book, so is not easy to carry around.
It was awarded the Wolfson prize for 1991. It is "the UK’s most prestigious history prize."
"The Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually to promote and recognise outstanding history written for a general audience. First awarded in 1972, it remains a beacon of the best historical writing being produced in the UK, reflecting qualities of both readability and excellence in writing and research.
Books are judged on the extent to which they are carefully researched, well-written and accessible to the non-specialist reader."
This book is 295 pages of text and and includes 375 photographs (many full page). In addition, there are 18 pages listing the 1183 footnotes. So the research component is fulfilled.
Once past the beautifully written preface, the information came way too fast for me. I was 40% into the book before I really started to understand. That is mostly due to my lack of knowledge of British history and geography. He crammed lists of examples in most sentences. He wrote nine other books on the subjects covered. So anything covered was probably in more detail in his other books.
But I did glean a few facts that I did not know before. And it was more understandable as I went along.
I would recommend that readers get this from the library or buy a cheap used copy as I did. You can always get a better copy, if you so desire. It is the size of an art book, so is not easy to carry around.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews