Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of History's Greatest Buildings
Mar 2017 · Macmillan + ORM
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"A narrative that spans seven millennia, five continents and even reaches into cyberspace. . . . I savored each page." —Henry Petroski, Wall Street Journal
In Fallen Glory, James Crawford uncovers the biographies of some of the world's most fascinating lost and ruined buildings, from the dawn of civilization to the cyber era. The lives of these iconic structures are packed with drama and intrigue, featuring 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. 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. And, by picking through the fragments of our past, it asks what history's scattered ruins can tell us about our own future.
"Witty and memorable . . . moving as well as myth-busting." — Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"[An] elegant, charged book . . . A well-written prize for students of history, archaeology, and urban planning." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Astute, entertaining, and affecting." — Booklist
"A lovely, wise book." —Alexander McCall Smith, New Statesman (UK)
"A cabinet of curiosities, a book of wonders with unexpected excursions and jubilant and haunting marginalia." — Spectator (UK)
In Fallen Glory, James Crawford uncovers the biographies of some of the world's most fascinating lost and ruined buildings, from the dawn of civilization to the cyber era. The lives of these iconic structures are packed with drama and intrigue, featuring 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. 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. And, by picking through the fragments of our past, it asks what history's scattered ruins can tell us about our own future.
"Witty and memorable . . . moving as well as myth-busting." — Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"[An] elegant, charged book . . . A well-written prize for students of history, archaeology, and urban planning." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Astute, entertaining, and affecting." — Booklist
"A lovely, wise book." —Alexander McCall Smith, New Statesman (UK)
"A cabinet of curiosities, a book of wonders with unexpected excursions and jubilant and haunting marginalia." — Spectator (UK)
"A narrative that spans seven millennia, five continents and even reaches into cyberspace. . . . I savored each page." —Henry Petroski, Wall Street Journal
In Fallen Glory, James Crawford uncovers the biographies of some of the world's most fascinating lost and ruined buildings, from the dawn of...
Ratings and reviews
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July 19, 2020
A great read! Points out Nazi sympathist archaeologists like Schliemann and Evans. The first review is dumb because the first chapter tells you what connects each chapter; Buildings/societies create immorality, that is what Gilgamesh realizes
About the author
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 has previously written a number of photographic books, including Above Scotland: The National Collection of Aerial Photography, Victorian Scotland, Scotland's Landscapes, and Aerofilms: A History of Britain from Above. In 2013, he wrote and acted as design consultant on Telling Scotland's Story, a graphic novel guide to Scottish Archaeology. He lives in Edinburgh.
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 has previously written a number of photographic boo...
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