Description
'Majestic ... [an] excitable, illuminating and sure to be enduring work' Financial Times 'Brilliant, authoritative and engaging' Country Life British architecture between the wars is most famous for the rise of modernism - the flat roofs, clean lines and concrete of the Isokon flats in Hampstead and the Penguin Pool at London Zoo - but the reality was far more diverse. As the modernists came of age and the traditionalists began to decline, there arose a rich variety of styles and tastes in Britain and across the empire, a variety that reflected the restless zeitgeist of the years before the Second World War. At the time of his death in 2017, Gavin Stamp, one of Britain's leading architectural critics, was at work on a deeply considered account of British architecture in the interwar period, correcting what he saw as the skewed view of earlier historians who were unable to see past modernism. Beginning with a survey of the modern movement after the armistice, Interwar untangles the threads that link lesser-known movements like the Egyptian revival with the enduring popularity of the Tudorbethan, to chronicle one of Britain's most dynamic architectural periods. The result is more than an architectural history - it is the portrait of a changing nation. As an account of the period that still shapes much of Britain's towns and cities, Gavin Stamp's final work is the definitive history of British architecture between the Great War and the Blitz.
An authoritative survey of British buildings between the wars by the late Gavin Stamp - one of Britain's best-known architecture critics
About the Author
Gavin Stamp was an architectural historian and scholar, one of Britain's leading experts on pre-war building and design. 'Brought up in a Tudor bungalow on the Orpington by-pass', as he recalled, he was educated on a scholarship at Dulwich College. Prolific as an author, curator and journalist, as 'Piloti' he wrote Private Eye's 'Nooks & Corners' column from 1978 until his death in 2017. He was chairman of the 20th-Century Society from 1983-2007, and wrote more than twenty books on topics including Edwin Lutyens, George Gilbert Scott, brutalism and telephone boxes.
Reviews
Elegant, erudite and entertaining ... rich ... offers a superbly detailed picture of an architectural era chiefly defined by its multiplicity of styles -- Richard Morrison * The Times *
A magnificent monument in itself to a fine architectural writer -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph *
Majestic ... [an] excitable, illuminating and sure to be enduring work * Financial Times *
His greatest work ... When so much of our built environment is unlovely, Stamp shows why it is worth looking again, and harder * New Statesman *
Extraordinary ... a most brilliant, authoritative and engaging guide ... Stamp's ability to present clearly for a general audience was as unusual as it is remarkable * Country Life *
A masterful revision of the history of interwar architecture, no longer as a barren seedbed of modernism but as an era of stylistic diversity, invention and delight -- Simon Jenkins
Definitive ... both vital and clear, a book steeped in technical detail, full of meticulous attention, yet accessible and without prejudice - never dry and certainly not florid ... Stamp wrote definitive books on grand and humble subjects * Spectator *
'Magisterial ... a monumental achievement ... in untangling the threads of a period of unimaginable change and stubborn constancy, Stamp is a forensic and sympathetic chronicler. You wish he were still on the stage. But in Interwar he has left behind the work of a lifetime * Apollo Magazine *
[Interwar] is valuable in its lively and perceptive discussion of a range of buildings and debates from the period * Literary Review *
Extraordinary -- Aaron Bastani, Novara Media
This posthumous volume is the masterpiece [Stamp] did not publish in his lifetime. It puts his memory on a new plane * Englesberg Ideas *
Love it or hate it, [interwar Britain] was a period full of personality: a changing society recovering from war and the Depression, hungry for a different future. There is fascination in their built footprints -- Libby Purves * The Times *
Thrilling ... Interwar looks to redress the imbalance Stamp saw in our architectural history - namely, that there was more to the interbellum period than modernism. Taking in everything from the Egyptian revival to the ubiquitous Tudorbethan, this handsome title makes the case for a more dynamic and diverse view of the past * The Modern House *
A rebuttal of the modernist-centric view of interwar British architecture. It was much more diverse than people think, [Stamp] argues, and studying the lesser-known movements is key to understanding the period * Apollo *
Praise for Gavin Stamp * : *
It is a puzzle to me that Stamp is not better known. He is eloquent, funny and eccentric. He is as familiar with the streets of our cities as a taxi driver with The Knowledge, and brilliant at connecting sublime ideas with the ordinary aspects of our daily lives -- Charles Moore * Sunday Telegraph *
Acute, erudite, elegant * The Times *
A wonderful celebration of the best in English design, and a stylish invective against the worst. -- Mary Beard, on 'Anti-Ugly' * Observer *
Informative and engaging about all kinds of English things, from royal tombs to London buses ... Stamp always tell[s] you something new, which is a wonderful thing -- Ian Jack * Guardian *
Much, much more than architectural history, for here, encapsulated in marmoreally angry prose, is an account of that collective act of mass murder, without parallel in history, known as the Great War. An unforgettable, passionate book -- A.N. Wilson, on 'The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme' * Evening Standard *
Book Information
ISBN 9781800817395
Author Gavin Stamp
Format Hardback
Page Count 576
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 1040g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 164mm * 54mm
An authoritative survey of British buildings between the wars by the late Gavin Stamp - one of Britain's best-known architecture critics
About the Author
Gavin Stamp was an architectural historian and scholar, one of Britain's leading experts on pre-war building and design. 'Brought up in a Tudor bungalow on the Orpington by-pass', as he recalled, he was educated on a scholarship at Dulwich College. Prolific as an author, curator and journalist, as 'Piloti' he wrote Private Eye's 'Nooks & Corners' column from 1978 until his death in 2017. He was chairman of the 20th-Century Society from 1983-2007, and wrote more than twenty books on topics including Edwin Lutyens, George Gilbert Scott, brutalism and telephone boxes.
Reviews
Elegant, erudite and entertaining ... rich ... offers a superbly detailed picture of an architectural era chiefly defined by its multiplicity of styles -- Richard Morrison * The Times *
A magnificent monument in itself to a fine architectural writer -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph *
Majestic ... [an] excitable, illuminating and sure to be enduring work * Financial Times *
His greatest work ... When so much of our built environment is unlovely, Stamp shows why it is worth looking again, and harder * New Statesman *
Extraordinary ... a most brilliant, authoritative and engaging guide ... Stamp's ability to present clearly for a general audience was as unusual as it is remarkable * Country Life *
A masterful revision of the history of interwar architecture, no longer as a barren seedbed of modernism but as an era of stylistic diversity, invention and delight -- Simon Jenkins
Definitive ... both vital and clear, a book steeped in technical detail, full of meticulous attention, yet accessible and without prejudice - never dry and certainly not florid ... Stamp wrote definitive books on grand and humble subjects * Spectator *
'Magisterial ... a monumental achievement ... in untangling the threads of a period of unimaginable change and stubborn constancy, Stamp is a forensic and sympathetic chronicler. You wish he were still on the stage. But in Interwar he has left behind the work of a lifetime * Apollo Magazine *
[Interwar] is valuable in its lively and perceptive discussion of a range of buildings and debates from the period * Literary Review *
Extraordinary -- Aaron Bastani, Novara Media
This posthumous volume is the masterpiece [Stamp] did not publish in his lifetime. It puts his memory on a new plane * Englesberg Ideas *
Love it or hate it, [interwar Britain] was a period full of personality: a changing society recovering from war and the Depression, hungry for a different future. There is fascination in their built footprints -- Libby Purves * The Times *
Thrilling ... Interwar looks to redress the imbalance Stamp saw in our architectural history - namely, that there was more to the interbellum period than modernism. Taking in everything from the Egyptian revival to the ubiquitous Tudorbethan, this handsome title makes the case for a more dynamic and diverse view of the past * The Modern House *
A rebuttal of the modernist-centric view of interwar British architecture. It was much more diverse than people think, [Stamp] argues, and studying the lesser-known movements is key to understanding the period * Apollo *
Praise for Gavin Stamp * : *
It is a puzzle to me that Stamp is not better known. He is eloquent, funny and eccentric. He is as familiar with the streets of our cities as a taxi driver with The Knowledge, and brilliant at connecting sublime ideas with the ordinary aspects of our daily lives -- Charles Moore * Sunday Telegraph *
Acute, erudite, elegant * The Times *
A wonderful celebration of the best in English design, and a stylish invective against the worst. -- Mary Beard, on 'Anti-Ugly' * Observer *
Informative and engaging about all kinds of English things, from royal tombs to London buses ... Stamp always tell[s] you something new, which is a wonderful thing -- Ian Jack * Guardian *
Much, much more than architectural history, for here, encapsulated in marmoreally angry prose, is an account of that collective act of mass murder, without parallel in history, known as the Great War. An unforgettable, passionate book -- A.N. Wilson, on 'The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme' * Evening Standard *
Book Information
ISBN 9781800817395
Author Gavin Stamp
Format Hardback
Page Count 576
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 1040g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 164mm * 54mm
