An ur-building material, brick is astonishingly versatile and often stunning. Art historian Campbell and architect and photographer Pryce present the first comprehensive international study of the technology and aesthetics of the humble but endlessly useful brick in a volume meritorious for its spectacular color photographs, nearly 600 in number, and the panoramic scope of its text. The fired brick was first invented in Neolithic Jericho, then taken up with great alacrity and skill in Mesopotamia and Egypt and by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Moving slowly forward in time, Campbell and Bryce chart the rapid evolution of brick making and bricklaying, explicating such marvels as the Colosseum and the Great Wall of China. Religious ardor in the Middle Ages inspired the construction of incredibly elaborate brick cathedrals, intricately patterned mosques, and such beautiful Asian Buddhist structures as Pagan, Burma, a brick dream consisting of several thousand temples and stupas. From castles to schools to New York's Chrysler Building, Campbell and Pryce explicate premier examples of engineering ingenuity and architectural grace, all based on the ubiquitous brick. Donna Seaman
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