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Summary: Let Us Build!
Review: One of a series of books about the great engineering feats of mankind, the author and illustrator takes us into the world of the great accomplishments of cathedral building. The reader will travel from the beginnings to the completion of an edifice spanning many generations.Though a good book for introducing younger children to architecture and engineering, it probably is best suited for those 9 to 15 years of age. Adults of all ages will enjoy the sophisticated, exhaustive and sometimes humorous illustrations. I enjoyed this book when I was younger and am always happy to see it once again as an adult. It is a great, educational effort in an enlightening and distinctive series by a very talented author.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent introduction to cathedral research
Review: Pyramids, temples, castles, cathedrals - humanity built like giants in olden days. We ponder these structures in photographs, gape at them as tourists. How could such mighty edifices have been erected during eras lacking bulldozers and derricks? This book answers the question so far as a cathedral is concerned. (What distinguishes a cathedral from other churches is that a bishop regularly performs rites there. Cathedrals built during medieval times tended toward monumental design; however, huge size is not a universal characteristic of cathedrals. Some are smaller than parish churches. The difference in size depended on the economic prosperity of the community paying for the construction.) An army of workers toiled nearly a century to build this Christian edifice. Stone, glass, timbers and lead were shaped and fitted together in an towering assembly. No photograph of say, Notre Dame or Rheims, could capture the skill and toil involved in the building of these cathedrals. They are a fait accompli, magnificent but finished. Cities today do not construct churches on such a scale; the cost would be astronomical. Portraying past methods must be hypothetical. A researcher has to harvest old records, drawings, testimonies penned by long dead writers, and from all project the artisans, tools, and techniques as an imaginary cathedral in an imaginary city in France. Nearly every page in CATHEDRAL displays a pen and ink drawing of each stage in the construction. The type of Christian church focused on is the gothic, distinguished by its overall crucifix shape, bell towers, spires, gargoyles, and flying buttresses. The size of CATHEDRAL - 9 by 12 inches - the profuse drawings, the unembellished prose, imply this is a book aimed at the high school and junior high level. A thin book (80) readings pages, one ought to read it in an hour without strain. To say this much and no more suggests CATHEDRAL does not merit older readers. A curious adult would find this book interesting as well as informative. It gives the reader insight into what is perhaps the greatest engineering feat of the middle ages, an undertaking so immense that a boy at its commencement would die of old age before the cathedral's doors opened to its first congregation.
Rating:
Summary: Great introduction
Review: this is a great introduction.
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Summary: Chapeau Monsieur David Macaulay!
Review: We bought two copies of this book. One for us, and one as a present for appreciation month of our pastor. We may even buy one more for a Christmas present! The author did not bind the book to the Catholic religion. It can be read an enjoyed by everybody. I read this book for the first time in 1988 and I always felt it was very detailed and as close to the truth as possible. Being (born) French and raised in France I lived by this type of cathedrals all my life. The writer was able to keep the mood of the medieval times as well as keeping it enjoyable and modern enough that even our American children (11 and 13 year old) love this book. People who have visited European (French) cathedrals can feel even more in this book the effort accomplished during the construction of a cathedral by medieval people. This book is good for children and for adults. This book is better understood if you traveled in France. From Provence in the South of France to the beaches of Bretagne you will find cathedrals that can fit the description of the building process described in this book. Great family entertainment but it is also a very good introduction to medieval buildings! Chapeau Monsieur David Macaulay! from A French expatriated now American citizen :O) living in Gurley Alabama Webmaster of the Gurley Community & Town History web site
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