This book takes a bird's-eye view of architecture in time, and explores the different ways architects have responded to civilizations, giving them the buildings and cities they deserved. With over 220 color photographs, it is a sumptuous guide for the thousands, or rather hundreds of thousands of people who enjoy visiting castles and cathedrals, palaces and piazzas, and would like to know and understand more about what they are seeing. Concisely and clearly written for a general audience, the book takes us through the world of the ancients, through the Renaissance, and into the Modern Age via the intricate fascination with the Baroque.