Modernism is now a century old, but its consequences are all around us, built into our everyday lived environments. Its place in Britain's history is fiercely contested, and its role in our future is the subject of ongoing controversy. Whatever you might think of its grand ideals or its architectural innovations, however, a hundred years of modernist buildings have changed our cities, politics and identity forever. In Modern Buildings in Britain , Owen Hatherley applauds the ambition, chronicles the history and explores the significance of this most divisive of architectures. Hatherley travels the length and breadth of Britain, from St Ives to Shetland, from Hunstanton to Aberystwyth, in search of our most important and distinctive modern buildings. Drawing on hundreds of examples, we learn how the concrete of Brutalism embodies post-war civic principles, how corporate values were expressed in the glass facades of the International Style, and why Ecomodernist experimentation is often consigned to the geographic fringes. As Hatherley considers the social, political and cultural value of these structures - many of which are threatened by demolition - two linked questions emerge: what happens to a building after it has been lived in, and what becomes of an idea when its time has passed? With over 600 pages of trenchantly opinionated, often witty analysis, and featuring 300 photographs in both duotone and colour, this is a landmark contribution to the history of British architecture. From iconic Brutalist classics to the works of forgotten Expressionist visionaries, Modern Buildings in Britain is the indispensable reference to modernism's monuments.