James Lees-Milne was an English writer and historian renowned for his insightful work on country houses and recognized as one of the twentieth century's significant diarists. His writings, often aimed at a general audience, encompassed architectural studies, biographies, and an autobiographical novel. Lees-Milne possessed a deep understanding of the English landscape and its architectural heritage, which infused his perceptive observations. His diaries, in particular, offer a valuable chronicle of the British intellectual and social milieu of his time, eventually garnering a devoted following.
In this groundbreaking work, Lees-Milne explores the history and methodology of architectural research. Drawing on his years of experience as an architectural historian and preservationist, Lees-Milne provides essential insights for anyone interested in the study or practice of architecture.
This second volume of James Lees-Milne's masterly biography opens at a turning point in Harold Nicolson's life: he was miserable at the Evening Standard and disillusioned with Mosley's New Party but his move to Sissinghurst, where he and his wife would design one of the most beautiful gardens in England, offered a fresh start.
The final compilation from James Lees-Milnes celebrated diaries covering the last fourteen years of his life.
In eight illuminating chapters we have the history of the Eternal City-Ancient Roman, Early Christian, Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo-the history of the buildings themselves, and Lees-Milne's inspired description and criticism of them as architectural masterpieces.
The first of three abridged volumes of 'the greatest diarist of our times'