The author concentrates on fundamental texts in the study of architectural history with special reference to eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain. The texts under discussion address key themes or methods in the construction of architectural histories. Alongside this, philosophical or theoretical writings that address the abstract issues surrounding the main texts are presented as a kind of exegesis on the chosen texts. This, together with an introduction and discursive essays which preface each of the sections, present a trans-disciplinary discourse around the discipline of architectural history.

1. Reading the Past: What is Architectural History? 2. The Authority of the Author: Biography and the Reconstruction of the Canon 3. On Classical Grounds. Histories of Style 4. A Class Performance: Social Histories of Architecture 5. The Illusions of Inclusion: The Guidebook and Historic Architecture 6. Reading Architectural Herstories: The Discourses of Gender