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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent in-depth look at classic English style
Review: This book is out of print, but I finally managed to lay my hands on a copy, after searching for years! This is an excellent resource for the serious student of classic English decorating, how it developed over the course of the 20th century, and its inspirations from the past. The second part of the book is devoted to John Fowler, his firm of Colefax & Fowler, and a look at various homes he decorated in his long and influential career. At the very end, you learn a little about various well-known decorators, both English and American, who were influenced by Fowler.It definitely helps if you already have some background knowledge of the subject, since Cornforth gets almost too detailed in his information. If you don't know, or care much, about the history of the people behind the stately homes he describes, you may well get lost in the text. I found the second half, on Fowler, much easier reading, since I already had a large interest in him, his ideas, and his firm. My only real complaint, however, is the photographs. They are taken from sources such as Country Life magazine over the past 75 years or so. Unfortunately, most of them are black-and-white, so you lose the very important elements of color and depth. The color picture sections are an improvement, but book photography has improved a lot. Some pictures have a flat and somewhat out-of-focus look, or the color is off. You still get the basic idea, but the true glory of these rooms would come through much better with newer photography. Still, all in all, a very rich and informative source for those with a deep interest in the subject, if you're lucky enough to find a copy!
Rating: 
Summary: Outclassing all alternatives
Review: This is a book for the serious historian of design or architecture -- while the many photographs are all oustanding, and, in particular, the photos from Country Life are truly some of the most extraordinary interior photos of the 20th century [notwithstanding the complaints of the prior reviewer] --- this is not in the least a coffee table book and those seeking such should look elsewhere. Rather, this superlative volume is a landmark in the intellectual history of Anglo-American design aesthetics and will likely not be equalled in the future. Of course, it's not at all surprising that the book is OOP --- the sophisticated audience for this subject is quite distinct from the acquisition-minded, typical subscriber to Architectural Digest.
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