A revised and updated edition of Sir John Summerson's classic book. Originating from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture in antiquity, classical style has long dominated the history of Western architecture from the Renaissance to the present day. Sir John Summerson's timeless text, as relevant today as when it was first published, distills the visual language of architecture into its fundamental classical elements and illustrates that buildings in all eras express an awareness of the "grammar" of style and its rules, even if they vary, are violated, or poetically contradict. From the ancient buildings of Greece and Rome to the recapitulations and innovations of the Renaissance; from the spectacular rhetoric of the Baroque to the solemn statements of Neoclassicism; and finally, the expressive eclecticism of the Victorians and Edwardians in the "simple Neoclassical" approach of some moderns; Summerson explains how each period used the classical language to express its declarations. With a new introduction by academic and architectural historian Alan Powers, this introduction continues to be one of the definitive texts on the subject and is essential reading for all architecture students.