Originally presented as Slade Lectures at Oxford University, the chapters of this book address a non-specialist readership and do not hesitate to condemn familiar but second-rate buildings like the British Museum, nor to praise unpopular ones like Keble College, Oxford. The judgements of the author are supported by his own experience of architectural practice and his first-hand knowledge of the buildings themselves. Throughout these lectures he sought to promote an appreciation of Victorian and Edwardian architecture.