point of view and to more convincing historians, representing a multiplicity of that this edition bears only some “traces” of

scholarship. disciplinary approaches. This massively ex- the original works, Fraser defends the use
MARK ALAN HEWITT panded edition, the first to be published in of Sir Banister Fletcher’s name in the title
Independent scholar two volumes, signals an important depar- by affirming that “just as no man is an is-
ture from other global histories of architec- land, nothing stands anew” (1:xv).
Notes ture (including previous Banister Fletcher Preceding part 1, an engaging chapter
1. Key sources not cited include Robert Gutman, editions) in that it was jointly produced by by Catherine Gregg titled “Sir Banister
Architectural Practice: A Critical View (New York: many individuals. Noting the reliance on Fletcher’s A History of Architecture: The Fa-
Princeton Architectural Press, 1988); Dana Cuff, teamwork needed to pull the numerous ther, the Son, His Wife, and Their Book”
Architecture: The Story of Practice (Cambridge, contributions together, Fraser states that reveals the fascinating long history of this
Mass.: MIT Press, 1991); Mary N. Woods, From
this edition “indeed can be claimed as the work and includes a useful table with a
Craft to Profession: The Practice of Architecture in
Nineteenth-Century America (Berkeley: University largest collective research project to date in chronology of various Banister Fletcher edi-
of California Press, 1999); Mark Alan Hewitt, The architectural history” (1:xxiv). This work tions. The original 1896 edition, written by
Architect and the American Country House, 1890– demonstrates long-overdue humility in its both Professor Banister Fletcher and his
1940 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, recognition that authoritative knowledge son Banister Flight Fletcher, contained
1990).

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of global architectural history is beyond the 159 illustrations and focused entirely on
2. Frederick Squires, Architec-tonics: The Tales of
grasp of any one individual or small group European architecture, concluding in con-
Tom Thumtack, Architect (New York: William T.
Comstock, 1914). of scholars. At the risk of sounding impe- temporary Britain of the late nineteenth
rial, one could say that holding Banister century. Although the elder Banister
Fletcher’s Global History in one’s hands is Fletcher died in 1899, many subsequent
Murray Fraser, ed. rather like holding a globe on which appear editions bore both names as the son con-
Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History more of the world’s architectural histories tinued to revise the text and add new illus-
of Architecture, 21st edition than ever before. They are presented non- trations. In the fifth edition of 1905, for
London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019, 2 vols., hierarchically, and if they do not yet enjoy example, the problematic “Tree of Archi-
2, 633 pp., 2,200 illus. $575 (cloth; slipcase equal coverage, clearly the plan is to rem- tecture,” an illustration that would become
edition), ISBN 97814725272 (vol. 1), edy that in the future. iconic, appeared for the first time. Sir Ban-
ISBN 9781472589972 (vol. 2), The clarity of the volumes’ structure ister Fletcher, the son, received sole credit
ISBN 9781472589989 (set) and the flexible interpretations permitted for the sixth edition, published in 1921, de-
to the contributors result in a harmonious spite the major contributions of his first
The two volumes of the twenty-first edi- text rather than a cacophony of multiple wife and coauthor, Alice Maud Mary
tion of Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History authorial voices. In his excellent introduc- Fletcher. That edition featured a new ver-
of Architecture (henceforth Banister Fletch- tion, Fraser explains this edition’s underly- sion of “The Tree of Architecture,” which
er’s Global History) are a sumptuous textual ing principles and framework. Addressing became the authoritative model for the
and visual banquet to delight varied tastes, the two versions of “The Tree of Architec- seventh to sixteenth editions, through Sir
with offerings that can be savored repeat- ture,” he underscores the imperialist per- Banister Fletcher’s death in 1953.
edly over time, separately or, if desired, in spective of early editions of Banister Beginning with the seventeenth edi-
their entirety. No matter where one enters Fletcher, in which the so-called West was tion, published in 1961, various editors re-
the volumes, it is soon evident that this viewed as the source of “modern styles” vised and reshaped the book. Critically, in
edition represents a boldly radical and wel- while the non-Western world was seen as the seventeenth edition, seven contributing
come rethinking of Banister Fletcher (first capable of producing only “nonhistorical authors responsible for particular sections
published in 1896).1 For the first time, the styles” of architecture. In contrast, the cur- replaced the sole authorial voice. By the
word global enters the title, and more than rent edition reflects a radical rethinking in twentieth edition, the centennial edition
any other worldwide architectural history which postcolonial and poststructuralist published in 1996, the number of contrib-
survey to date, these volumes reveal a truly critiques are taken seriously. uting authors had risen to thirty-six. In the
global architectural history beginning to Banister Fletcher’s Global History uses as present twenty-first edition, the authorial
take shape. its starting point 3500 BCE, commonly ac- voice of Fletcher has disappeared entirely,
Rather than the “singular authorial cepted as the beginning of the “urban rev- except when quoted or used with original
voice” that characterized earlier Banister olution,” and concludes with the present drawings. With 2,200 illustrations, this is
Fletcher editions (1:xvii), this work presents day. A neutral framework divides the vol- the first edition to use color images; it is
102 chapters written by eighty-eight major umes into seven parts covering sequential also “the first fully digitized online edition”
scholars from around the world. Recog- and broad periods that unfold in linear (1:xxxviii). Gregg’s critical perspective on
nizing the specialized expertise of these time without focusing on particular histor- the Fletcher dynasty, and her appreciation
scholars, editor Murray Fraser gave them ical events or favoring particular regions. of the long-overlooked first Lady Fletcher,
considerable freedom in crafting their Chapters in individual parts follow a con- fortunately does not prevent her from
contributions. While many are architec- sistent geographical route, making it easy making readers aware of Sir Banister
tural historians, others are architects, ar- for readers to circumnavigate the globe in Fletcher’s perspectives on architecture, not
chaeologists, art historians, and cultural a predictable direction. Acknowledging all of which may be palatable, but which

BOOKS 485
may still prompt some to refer to his approach that puts large parts of the globe Architecture” and will help to shift long-
writings. into conversation with each other. standing biases that may still exist within
Careful forethought and intellectual The original version of “The Tree of our shared disciplinary consciousness.
labor guided the design of the current Architecture” suggested that building tra- Fraser anticipates potential criticism in
edition as a whole as well as its parts. Vol- ditions were anchored in an individual cul- his introduction, noting that postcolonial-
ume 1 contains Fraser’s introduction, ture’s geography, geology, climate, ism prepared the ground for the many
Gregg’s essay, a useful glossary, and other religion, social and political factors (“so- changes we see in this new edition, and that
necessary information in addition to the cial” in the second iteration), and history. this work stands at the limits of what is cur-
four parts covering the period from Architecture grew from the local soil, gen- rently possible. However, one might still
3500 BCE to 1500 CE. Volume 2 takes erated through the interactions of various ask why the architectural production of
the reader from 1500 CE to the present natural and human forces. Obviously, stu- France and that of the entire continent of
day in three parts. Each part is preceded dents of history need to understand such Africa during a particular period both qual-
by a short introduction based on a theme; context, and each of this edition’s chapters ify for a single chapter. Surely there should
these themes are, respectively, intention- draws upon yet also transforms this tradi- be more than one chapter on various Afri-
ality, internationality, ideology, exchange, tion by beginning with two sections, “His- can nations or regions? Such shortcomings

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empire, manufacture, and modernity. For tory and Geography” and “Culture and reveal our need to continue the already
example, the introduction to part 5, titled Society.” Once again, the authors were decades-long process of changing how we
“Empire” and covering the period from granted considerable flexibility in how they research and teach global architectural his-
1500 to 1800, does a particularly wonder- approached these sections—a wise choice, tory. Piloted by sure guides, this book will
ful job of framing this period in distinctly given that a single chapter might combine be cherished not only by students and
global terms. It provides readers with an Southeast Asia, the continent of Australia, scholars but also by those who are en-
overview of the expansion of European and the Pacific, or individual countries chanted by architecture’s ability to trans-
mercantile empires, which of course en- such as Korea or France, during a given pe- port us to known and unknown territories.
countered other powerful empires and riod. In these immensely useful introduc- PREETI CHOPRA
states from the Safavid dynasty in Iran to tory sections, readers are likely to learn University of Wisconsin–Madison
the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. something new even about regions they
By setting guidelines for the book’s think they know and gain insight into pla- Note
chapters, the editor has ensured consis- ces where they have never been. Succinct 1. Banister Fletcher refers to Banister Fletcher and
tency while also allowing authors consider- text boxes interrupt chapter accounts to Banister Flight Fletcher, A History of Architecture
able freedom of interpretation. For draw attention to architectural styles, re- on the Comparative Method, twenty editions of
example, in part 1, which covers the period curring details, building types, individual which were published from 1896 onward by many
different publishers.
from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE, a given chap- architects, or themes of the authors’
ter on a particular country or region might choice. Finally, each chapter offers brief
provide examples beyond this period to analysis of a few representative buildings.
better explain an argument. In fact, none of The lavish use of carefully chosen maps Neil Jackson
the fourteen chapters in part 1 fits the and beautiful photographs as well as new Japan and the West: An Architectural
part’s framing dates exactly, and much the drawings further enlivens the text. Dialogue
same can be said about the chapters in all Banister Fletcher’s Global History rejects London: Lund Humphries, 2019, 472 pp., 20
the other parts of the book. Thus, there is the colonialist vision presented in both ear- color and 180 b/w illus. $77 (cloth),
a chapter on Sumer and Akkad (Iraq) in the lier versions of “The Tree of Architecture,” ISBN 9781848222960
period 3500–2000 BCE, a span of 1,500 where the thriving upper branches of mod-
years. The chapter on the Andes surveys an ern Western architecture (most promi- In his latest book, Neil Jackson brings a
even longer period of 3,800 years, from nently represented by Western colonial new perspective to the study of exchanges
4000 BCE to 200 BCE. In comparison, the powers) overshadowed the stunted, lower- of architectural ideas and designs between
chapter on archaic Greece covers only 250 most branches of the non-West. Part 7 of Japan and the West by examining how peo-
years, 750–500 BCE. This flexibility allows the book, covering the period from 1900 to ple experience and understand the cultural
for chronological breaks and overlaps with the present day, includes the Middle East, spheres of others. In so doing, he reinvents
other parts of the book and even some in- Eastern Europe, Russia, the Indian sub- the ways architectural historians might use
consistencies. Such ambiguities are wel- continent, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast extensive and relatively unknown materials
come, as they support the diversity of Asia, Australia, Oceania, Africa, Central from various fields. Although Japanese ar-
approaches and historical chronologies and South America, and Canada. Some of chitectural ideas and technologies have his-
across the globe. The multiple chapters in these regions still tend to be omitted from torically been deeply influenced by those of
each section allow for both a concentration discussions of contemporary architecture. China, a closer look at scholarship on the
on particular countries or regions (for ex- By foregrounding these neglected coun- country’s more recent architectural past re-
ample, in part 1, three chapters address tries, regions, and continents, this edition veals the study, imitation, and absorption of
Egypt and Iraq during different periods) enables them to take their rightful place Western ideas, forms, and technologies,
and individual chapters on other areas, an among the upper branches of the “Tree of the subsequent rediscovery of traditional

486 JSAH | 80.4 | DECEMBER 2021