# Please recommend a book on architectural history, please

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-architectural-history-please/273837>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 9, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-architectural-history-please/273837 "2004-11-09T15:12:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ryanbobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ryanbobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryanbobo)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-architectural-history-please/273837/1 "2004-11-09T15:12:43Z")

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I hope this is the right forum. I need a book about architectural history, mainly of the western world. I don’t need a book that will make me an expert, just one that tells me how to determine a building’s style (such as gothic, baroque, etc.) and the time periods in which different styles were popular. If it tells in which countries different styles are prevalent, even better. An illustrated book would be especially good.

Thank you in advance.

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**Author:** ![ryanbobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ryanbobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryanbobo)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-architectural-history-please/273837/2 "2004-11-09T15:14:15Z")

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Please excuse the poor grammar in the title as well, please.