Stylistic Cold Wars: Betjeman Versus Pevsner

Published by John Murray, 2000, hardcover, index, 182 pages, condition: as new.

A fresh, insightful look at British architecture and the debate between preservationism and modernism.

Architectural historians John Betjeman and Nikolaus Pevsner both had a profound influence on the way Britain looks today, and the debate embodied in their work--between historical preservationism and international modernism--is of cultural significance throughout the contemporary world. While Pevsner argued in favor of imposing a functional townscape on postwar Britain, Betjeman mourned the destruction of historic landmarks and towns and effectively launched the "Heritage Industry." Extolling the virtues of Betjeman's point of view, Timothy Mowl concerns himself with the defense of places threatened by the British uncertainty on matters of architectural style and urban values so that England (and the world) do not "fill up with neutral buildings for a neutral people." A lively and instructive contribution to our understanding of 20th-century architectural and cultural history.