Houses and history /

This book, which is about British houses and British history, is in two parts: The Middle Ages to 1550, and The Modern House, 15501900. From Barley's detailed study of the evolution of the houses in English and Wales come a thorough and vivid social British history. The volume is also an archaeology of British houses, particularly in Part 1. The houses are royal palaces, manor houses, and peasant houses whose earliest history has been assembled from archaeological digs. Barley (archaeology, University of Nottingham) is also the author of The England Farmhouse and Cottage (1972) and European Towns: Their Archaeology and Early History (1977). The breadth of the author's interpretations and research ranges from the development and uses of building materials to an understanding of vertical and lateral social mobility in England and to the evolution of floor plans, staircases, rooms, and industrial housing in the 19th century. Each chapter is extensively annotated and also is generously illustrated with maps, drawings, and photographs. This is a very British book. Even the language is rich and-apparently-ever so precise. Terriers, glebe, advowson, goal, etc., are not part of US vernacular language in the subject literature-US vernacular architecture is much younger and, by comparison, simpler. Barley's very superior book is recommended for British collections, and for large architectural, academic, and public libraries.-B. Jacob, University of Minnesota