The life of the influential Sir John Vanburgh and his role in defining the architectural landscape of England. Sir John Vanbrugh is celebrated today as one of England's finest country house architects. His masterpieces include palatial private homes such as Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace, greatly admired by any enthusiast of English Baroque architecture. However, his work extended far beyond such projects, and included a remarkable variety of temples, belvederes, pyramids and many other features which he designed for the gardens and parks of the estates at which he worked. The originality of such work has shown that Vanbrugh played a crucial role in the development of the eighteenth-century English garden, and this unique and fascinating book uses the fruits of new research to assess just what contribution this great man made to our heritage. AUTHORS: Christopher Ridgeway is Curator at Castle Howard and has written and lectured widely on its architecture, gardens and collections. Robert Williams is an art book editor based in London and a research author for the collections at Oak Spring Garden Library, Upperville, Virginia. 160 b/w illustrations