Hugh Casson's Cambridge

The city of Cambridge, situated at the convergence of 'four roads and a sluggish river', can boast a magnificent variety of buildings of every period, forming a mesmerizing man-made landscape. This enchanting illustrated notebook is a celebration of that city, exploring not only the imposing and the impressive aspects to the city but also its more intimate and unusual spaces, textures and silhouettes. Sir Hugh Casson's lively, evocative watercolours and engaging text capture the essence of this magnificent city in a book that will inspire and delight not only the new visitor but also those who, like Sir Hugh himself, have known and loved Cambridge for years.

His analogous architectural analysis of the city of Oxford, rivalling Cambridge in its architectural diversity and evocative atmosphere, is portrayed with equally astounding erudition and humanism by Sir Hugh Casson, in a companion volume, also available from Phaidon.

The fluid and absorbing nature of Casson's text, together with the seductive and astonishingly accurate illustrations, makes this two-volume series an elegant and eloquent overview of two cities that are perhaps the most architecturally momentous in Britain.