Overview
Acclaimed as a masterly exposition of the making of the much quoted, photographed, studied and loved townscapes of Georgian Edinburgh, A. J. Youngson's classic book recreates and brings to life one of the most comprehensive, detailed and remarkable urban expansion programs ever undertaken. He describes the vigor of the planning debates, the fundraising schemes, the administrative and legislative infrastructure of planning, the construction of public buildings as poles of attraction for speculative building, and all the hopes, quarrels, victories and civic bankruptcy that went into this great experiment.
Superbly illustrated with over 160 photographs and line drawings, this is an invaluable work of history and a fascinating account of the shaping of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
Edinburgh University Press
Synopsis
Acclaimed as a masterly exposition of the making of the much quoted, photographed, studied and loved townscapes of Georgian Edinburgh, A. J. Youngson's classic book recreates and brings to life one of the most comprehensive, detailed and remarkable urban expansion programs ever undertaken. He describes the vigor of the planning debates, the fundraising schemes, the administrative and legislative infrastructure of planning, the construction of public buildings as poles of attraction for speculative building, and all the hopes, quarrels, victories and civic bankruptcy that went into this great experiment.
Superbly illustrated with over 160 photographs and line drawings, this is an invaluable work of history and a fascinating account of the shaping of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
Editorials
The Herald
This beautiful book, a credit in every way to the author, photographer, printers and publisher, should be bought by everyone who professes to care for the arts, the history and the civilisation of Scotland.
Scotland on Sunday
The Making of Classical Edinburgh is everything a scholarly study should be. The text is clear, uncluttered and always illuminating, and James Craig's plans of the New Town are beautifully reproduced.
George Gordon
A splendid piece of scholarship.