Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of History's Greatest Buildings
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.12 (947 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1250118298 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 640 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-12-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
They can succeed or fail. And, by picking through the fragments of our past, it asks what history’s scattered ruins can tell us about our own future.. They have parentsgods, kings and emperors, governments, visionaries and madmenas well as friends and enemies. Soap operas on the grandest scale, they feature war and religion, politics and art, love and betrayal, catastrophe and hope. They provide the stage for a startling array of characters, including Gilgamesh, the Cretan Minotaur, Agamemnon, Nefertiti, Genghis Khan, Henry VIII, Catherine the Great, Adolf Hitler, and even Bruce Springsteen.The twenty-one structures Crawford focuses on include The Tower of Babel, The Temple of Jerusalem, The Library of Alexandria, The Bastille, Kowloon Walled City, the Berlin Wall, and the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. They have duties and responsibilities. Ranging from the deserts of Iraq, the banks of the Nile and the cloud forests of Peru, to the great cities of Jerusalem, Istanbul, Paris, Rome, London and New York, Fallen Glory is a unique guide to a world of vanished architecture. They can live. Frequently their afterlives have been no less dramatictheir memories used and abused down the millennia for purposes both sacred and pr
This is a magnificent study of buildings and other structures that have disappeared. A lovely, wise book.”Alexander McCall Smith, New Statesman (UK)“This well-researched and evocative work turns history into biography with the fascinating tales of the lives and deaths of 21 structures from around the world. At no time was I tempted to rush through or skip ahead. Crawfordreveals a witty and intelligent literary voice.Later chapters on the World Trade Center’s collapsed Twin Towers and the Islamic State’s obliteration of the ancient city of Palmyra reveal dramatic, startling connections between past and present, creator and destroyer, politics and culture.”Publishers Weekly“Civilisations and thei
JAMES CRAWFORD works for Scotland’s National Collection of architecture and archaeology. Born in the Shetlands in 1978, he studied History and Philosophy of Law at the University of Edinburgh, winning the Lord President Cooper Memorial Prize. He lives in Edinburgh. He has previously written a number of photographic books, including Above Scotland: The National Collection of Aerial Photography, Victorian
"Fascinating look at constructions and the context in which they were placed." according to Steven Peterson. An absolutely fascinating book! It explores buildings, cities, and other architectural creations from millennia B.C. up to much more recent times. It explores the discovery process of the varying constructions, a slice of history about these, an analysis of what the particular story might tell us.The book begins with the Tower of Babe. History brought to life. It's tempting to say, This is how all history should be written and taught for non-historians. Through tales of the rise and fall of many of the world's greatest buildings and cities, Crawford really brings history to life. Though copiously footnoted suggesting considerable academic rigor, this book is full of lively and fascinating s. Amazon Customer said Five Stars. A very interesting and well-written book.