Customer Reviews

Not Built in a Day: Exploring the Architecture of Rome

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
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This memorable, witty and discerning new guide to Rome -- a city caught "like an old man" in memories, delusions and dreams --evokes the special character, history and attraction of the marvelous piazzas along with the ancient, renaissance and baroque palazzos. Sophisticated and informative, it sharpens your eye and mind; it is what lovers of Rome have been waiting for. Don't miss it for your next to Rome.... Amos Elon

I found Mr Sullivan's book to be an insightful and elegant analysis of the architecture of Rome. It is an excellent guide for both on-site visits and for savoring after your trip. This is one of the best books that I have read on Rome.

Not Built in a Day blends astute architectural observation with basic guidebook practicality. The descriptions combine detail and relevant explanation to make the most lay-person feel expert as they dissect the infinite elements in a church, piazza, or palazzo. For anyone who's been to Rome, the inexorable shuttling between sites makes you numb to the city's splendor, but Not Built in a Day constantly re-orients and reminds the reader that every site contains an element of architectural, historical, or civic wonder that makes the non-stop walking completely worthwhile.

The book's walking tours can be strictly followed (I completed tours 1,2, and 7 without any diversions), but once I had a better feel for the city, I picked specific places that I wanted to see and then read the appropriate entry.

Every guidebook should aspire to be Not Built in a Day

This is a well written and well organized guide to Rome. I found Mr.Sullivan's book to be both educational and extremely enjoyable. This book contributed to four fascinating days in Rome last September, and I would not consider going back to Rome without it. There were so many times that the text helped me to notice things that I would have otherwise overlooked. I hlghly recommend this guide.

This remarkable book is a must read if you are planning your own itinerary in Rome. The author's love of Rome and its Architecture are apparent from the first page. He organizes the overwhelming amount of information into compact and readable units. Pick a time period or Architectural style of interest and follow the detailed path laid out by the author. The added information of the art to see inside each structure makes this the only "guide" book to Art & Architecture that you will need on your visit to Rome.

George Sullivan's "Not Built in a Day" is a unique and wonderful combination of scholarly knowledge, art, passion, and wit. The author recently gave a series of slide lectures at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. based upon the material in the book, which I attended. His lectures were exceptional -- insightful and enjoyable, a college-level crash course on the history of European architecture that was set entirely in Rome! He really made the buildings come alive through his enthusiasm and humor; I especially liked that he not only had definite opinions on buildings, but also explained clearly what architectural qualities those opinions were based on. This same in-depth but accessible approach can be found in the book, which is unlike any other guide to Rome that I have seen. I would enthusiastically recommend it if you are going to Rome, and if the lectures show up at a museum near you in the future, I would enthusiastically recommend them as well.

George Sullivan's "Not Built in a Day" has many virtues. It is well-organized (as a series of walking tours); it is well indexed (to enable the reader to organize his/her own study; it is written fluently--neither densely scholarly nor "tour book breathless," each mini-essay captures the history of a building and its context in a direct straight-forward way. But the real difference between this book and so many others is that each essay--whether brief or more extended (like one on the Pantheon)--both reveals and encourages in the reader a careful "reading" of each building itself. I was especially interested in Bernini and Borromini's designs, and NBIAD was as good as any textbook could have been in guiding my eye as I studied the aesthetic relationship between these two acclaimed architects of baroque Rome. Anyone really interested in understanding architectural composition in Rome will find a worthy friend in this book.

My wife and I recently returned from Rome, and one of our many fine moments in that glorious city was sitting on top of Michelangelo's Campodiglio, with Mr. Sullivan's book in hand and understanding for the first time exactly what Michelangelo did and why -- and thus helping us understand more deeply the greatness of his accomplishment. So it went with magnificent works such as Borromini's San Carlino or Bramante's Tempietto. Similarly, we came to understand the failures -- what the architect wanted to do and didn't quite get there. Mr. Sullivan's goal, was to help us move beyond admiration or puzzlement at what we are looking at, and understand what was done, and how well it did or did not work. Very well written, tough in its judgments, and infused throughout by a love for the city. Don't go to Rome without it.

I received "Not Built in a Day" as a gift just prior to a recent trip to Rome. As a student of "Rome," and art history I was initially intrigued by the biographical nature of the book, but upon reading I was thrilled by the level of detail and informed opinion offered by Mr. Sullivan. The edifices offered up in the book are carefully selected -- curated is perhaps a better description -- well researched and at times wonderfully controversial. Mr Sullivan even reveals a few off-the-beaten-path gems.

I must also comment on the architectural illustrations provided in the book; contrary to most architectural surveys (I would not demean this book by calling it merely a travel guide), there are no photographs in the book. Rather, the author has brilliantly selected engravings ("veduti") produced in the 18th and 19th centuries of particular buildings--illustrating the buildings and their surroundings in their prime and prior to any 20th century urban planning errors--smart!

"Not Built in a Day" is great for students of art history, the casual traveler and even the jaded academic--all should love and enjoy it-- I certainly did.

A good read for those who love history, it is an excellent companion for travel to Rome