"A masterpiece. A book that distills an accumulated life's work of thinking, seeing and writing." -- Jonathan Nunn "Hatherley's urban perambulations are in the great tradition of some of the best writers on architecture and design. Over 600 pages, our author and guide present us with a very personal selection, seeking out the diamonds in the rough and finding just the right pithy observations to praise the unusual, while damning the neglect, philistinism, and opposition that often comes with the territory." -- Jonathan Bell -- Wallpaper* "A gorgeous treat. Hatherley is a fl'neur with a cause. He incites his readers to engage, as he does, with what is around them, no matter how banal it may appear at first glance, and to take nothing for granted." -- Jonathan Meades -- Literary Review "Insightful and inspiring.

One of its strengths is the devotion and persistence with which Owen Hatherley has sought out gems across the country. [A] phenomenal work of gathering and observation." -- Rowan Moore -- Observer "Owen Hatherley is something of a phenomenon. Hatherley is a 'béton brut' Ruskin for the twenty-first century. The book is a triumph and a thrill ride. A great big doorstopper, it is a classy production generally, generously illustrated with Chris Matthews's superb photography. The historical overview in the introduction is a masterpiece of lucid, pithy explication." -- Otto Saumarez Smith -- Apollo "A weighty, glossy gazetteer of the most significant British modernist buildings.

Packed with pleasurable details. [Hatherley] is trenchant, never fawning; a provocateur, and a good one - and more entertaining than Nicholas Pevsner. He writes glorious contextual critiques. Emotional and affecting." -- Helen Barrett -- Spectator "A book that will get you excited about architecture." -- Teddy Jamieson -- The Herald "Those with more than a passing interest in modernism will have great fun planning excursions with the help of the book's geographically arranged chapters." -- David Nicholls -- House and Garden "It is an addictive book to dip in and out of, to open at random to learn something new. an approachable guide.

Hatherley's introduction is possibly the most lucid and concise history of modern architecture in Britain you will find anywhere." -- Oliver Wainwright -- Guardian "Swashbuckling. A very considerable achievement. Being a gazetteer, this is a book to dip in and out of, and you will keep dipping in and out, it's an addictive process that is made easy to navigate." -- Hugh Pearman -- RIBA Journal "The latest instalment in one of the most extraordinary oeuvres in writing about space and form, and a welcome antidote to the pre-industrial phantasmagoria of the new monarch." -- Thomas Meaney, Best Books of the Year -- New Statesman "Owen Hatherley, long an eloquent proselytiser for municipal Modernism, has produced a new Britannica for our era of reassessment. Hatherley has superbly documented a moment in which we are rapidly losing what many have only just learnt to appreciate." -- Edwin Heathcote -- Financial Times "The best blueprint for understanding Britain's modern architecture.

An erudite and informative new classic . a book that is colossal in ambition, range, and achievement." -- Darran Anderson -- Elephant.