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Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire

The Cambridgeshire book in the famous series, and without a doubt this is the book I found most useful in putting together this website.

Covers the whole of the County, including Ely for example. However, the importance of Cambridge is acknowledged by the allocation of a separate section, with its own introduction and index. In all, Cambridge takes up about a third of the book.

I found the introduction to the Cambridge section a particularly good overview of architectural developments in the City. This is followed by a systematic treatment of the architecture by college and building, which is not so readable but excellent for reference. The style is personal and immediate yet nevertheless dry: a curious mixture of descriptive text, analysis and personal opinion. You have to be careful to recognise the opinion for what it is, and not allow Pevsner to direct your thoughts too much.

Whilst not a guidebook, it is in a compact format and could easy be carried in a large pocket or small bag. Take it with you when walking around Cambridge to answer questions not dealt with by the guidebooks.

Not very richly illustrated by today's standards, and the black and white plates are not well integrated with the text. But the lack of pictures does of course make it handier to carry around.

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©1998-2002 S Slatcher