The English House
A History in Eight Buildings
$42.57
- Paperback
512 pages
- Release Date
30 May 2026
Summary
Beyond the front door… Britain’s leading house detective reveals the stories of eight extraordinary buildings
This is the story of the superbly elegant early eighteenth-century Pallant House in Chichester. It’s the story of 19 Princelet Street in Spitalfields, built for a Huguenot silk-weaver, ultimately a synagogue. It’s also the story of - among others - a row of two-up, two-downs in Toxteth, a block of flats in London’s East End, and what Ideal Home’s magazine described in…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781804941546 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1804941549 |
| Author: | Dan Cruickshank |
| Publisher: | Cornerstone |
| Imprint: | Penguin |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 512 |
| Release Date: | 30 May 2026 |
| Weight: | 432g |
| Dimensions: | 31mm x 127mm x 196mm |
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Critics Review
Cruickshank’s enthusiasm for England’s vernacular architecture shines through every infectious sentence of this glorious book. His great skill is to dig down into details so that no building’s hidden corner, crooked window or clever keystone goes unremarked. At the same time, he situates these idiosyncratic details in a wider reading of the social and economic conditions which gave rise to every brick, strut and gurning gargoyle. A triumph * The Times *
A mine of information presented in an effortlessly accessible style. Unlike many books that merely convey stories attached to buildings, this is social and architectural history delivered with forensic insight * Country Life *
The English House condenses the intriguing story of how English homes have developed. * The Independent, Books of the Month *
The most delightfully reassuring of books. In The English House, Cruickshank lovingly and methodically dives into the history of eight different buildings. Fascinating. Cruickshank guides the reader through 19 Princelet St […] with great charm and a keen sense of the resonance of the building, which – like all the buildings in the book – he brings beautifully to life. * Jewish Chronicle *
Diverting and illuminating * Observer *
Cruickshank’s book is much more than a history of English domestic architecture… it is a fascinating meander through a dazzling array of different topics, all of which have helped shape “our” national fabric. […] To write a book that leads the reader gently by the hand through topics so eclectic and so various is no mean achievement. [A book] of considerable charm. * Times Literary Review *
Dan Cruickshank
Dan Cruickshank is an architectural historian and television presenter. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and has sat on the Executive Committee of the Georgian Group, and the Architectural Panel of the National Trust.
His previous work includes the BBC television programmes Civilisation Under Attack (2015) and At Home with the British (2016), and the books A History of Architecture in 100 Buildings (2015) and Spitalfields (2016).
He lives in London.
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