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  • Published: 29 March 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241452639
  • Imprint: Viking
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 360
  • RRP: $65.00

Europe's 100 Best Cathedrals



From Toledo to Moscow and Stockholm to Seville, discover architectural gems and historical insights from the Sunday times bestselling author of Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

Europe's cathedrals are magnificent. They outstrip palaces and castles. They are the most sensational group of structures anywhere in the world - which everyone should 'see before they die'. They are also hugely popular, most of them absolutely packed. They are humankind's greatest creations.

In Europe's 1oo Best Cathedrals, Simon Jenkins has travelled the continent - from Chartres to York, Cologne to Florence, Toledo to Moscow and Stockholm to Seville - to illuminate old favourites and highlight new discoveries. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of Europe's history tells the stories behind these wonders, showing the cathedral's central role in the European imagination. Readers will be inspired to make their own pilgrimage to all one hundred of them.

  • Published: 29 March 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241452639
  • Imprint: Viking
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 360
  • RRP: $65.00

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Praise for Europe's 100 Best Cathedrals

This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book

Chris Evans, on Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages

The Times, on Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

An uplifting exploration of our social history

Guardian, on Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

As ever, Simon Jenkins is here the best sort of guide to some of Europe's greatest buildings and their settings: well-informed, elegantly opinionated and passionate in his feelings for his subject. Set out on your European travels expecting to be entertained as well as informed

Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

This is a thrilling book. Jenkins combines formidably wide knowledge with infectious enthusiasm for these medieval marvels. A joy

Ken Follett, author of The Pillars of the Earth

Another masterly achievement by Simon Jenkins combining his inclusive vision and sharp focus, together with superb photographs, and all enlivened by his deeply felt personal perspective

Richard Harries, author of Seeing God in Art

In sparse but elegant prose Jenkins not only nails the must-see elements of these great religious treasure houses, he paints a historical and political backdrop against which they stand highlighted at the heart of our common cultural heritage

Christopher Somerville, author of Britain's Best Walks

Simon Jenkins has provided a feast for both eyes and mind in this sumptuously illustrated guide to Europe's greatest cathedrals. His Introduction, and description of the history and architecture of each cathedral, bring the living reality of these works of art into sharp and vivid focus

John Barton, author of A History of the Bible

An engaging mixture of personal recollection and grand narrative, this book introduces the reader to the astonishing variety and invention of Europe's cathedrals, from Albi to Wells. Concise accounts and beautiful images conjure up what are still, after centuries among the largest and most complex buildings ever built

Ed Hollis, author of The Secret Lives of Buildings

Well researched, well written and perceptive - this is the essential and most inspiring guide to the greatest glories of European culture

Dan Cruickshank, author of Adventures in Architecture