A survey of structural innovations in architecture and the ways in which they were designed, emphasising major achievements such as the church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the dome of Florence Cathedral. 'During 40 years Rowland Mainstone has been a prolific and original writer on developments in the history of architectural structures. This collection of 22 of his papers demonstrates their quality and authority...These papers should help destroy the popular myth that we do not know how cathedrals and great works of antiquity were designed or built...They should be essential reading for everyone engaged in restoring and conserving buildings, and will be equally rewarding for the sheer pleasure of better understanding the enormity of our debt to the technical achievements of past centuries.' Architectural Review '...very readable and has much to interest the practising engineer or anyone with a visual sense and an enquiring mind.' Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings News 'With the depth of research reported, the great wealth of its references, and its illumination of such diverse themes and topics, the book must easily claim space in architectural libraries and provide stimuli for further studies. Significant assistance to the wide variety of studies which can be envisaged is given by the inclusion of three separate indexes, for 'subjects', 'bridges, buildings and places', and 'persons'.' Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain Newsletter