Customer Reviews

Gothic Revival A&I (Art and Ideas)

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This is the first new survey of the Gothic Revival for more than seventy years. Even to have caught up with the huge amount of writing since then, both in architectural history and in cultural history, would have been a great achievement. Chris Brooks goes much further, however, in his gift for tracing connections and suggesting parallels between artistic change and its social context. He also shows how widely the Revival ranged, both in the English speaking world, and on Continental Europe. He shows that the Gothic Revival is truly one of the central themes of Western culture.

Two more points in its favour: it is beautifully illustrated, inventively designed, and exceptionally good value...

I found Chris Brook's book beautifully illustrated and quite informative. The Gothic Revival style is little understood and little appreciated. Personally, I don't believe anyone can truly understand Art Nouveau (and its successor, Art Deco)without an understanding of the organic forms first created by neo-Gothic architects. For anyone who wishes to better understand 19th and early 20th century architecture (and perhaps their own local parish church building), this is a very good introduction to the subject.

Before opening the book, I was concerned that I would find a lavishly illustrated but scholarly lacking volume, given its glossy pages and that I associate its publisher, Phaidon, much more with coffee table books than anything I would read for academic pursuits.

I was pleased to find that this couldn't be further from the truth. Chris Brooks's book on the Gothic Revival is not only full of historical detail, but does a better job than any other book on the Gothic Revival in explicating the social and political contexts of the movement(s). (Note: the book focuses overwhelmingly on architecture, but does address issues such as the Gothic novel.) Having surveyed the majority of literature on the (British) Gothic Revival, this would be the first book I would recommend for anyone who wants a detailed overview of both the material and intellectual content of the Gothic Revival.

This book is a bit dry, but it is a fantastic introduction to or review of the contraditory meanings of "Gothic Style" after the Middle Ages. The text does a good job of bringing out the complexity of the topic without being overwhelming; the full color images (and the book as a whole) are stunningly beautiful. This isn't the most fun you'll ever have reading an art book, but if you need to catch up on the info or want a gorgeous book with lots of great pictures, this is a good choice.