One of the country’s foremost architectural historians presents a wide-ranging and challenging analysis of the revolution in architectural tastes that characterized the great rebuildings of the 16th and 17th centuries. Colin Platt’s other book include: The English Medieval Town , Medieval England: A Social History and Archaeology from the Conquest to 1600 and The Architecture of Medieval Britain: A Social History which won the prestigious Wolfson Prize for 1990. This book is intended for undergraduate/6th form, courses on Elizabethan/early modern England with a cultural/architectural dimension at A -level, broad-based chronological courses at university level, and specialized courses in urban and architectural history.