Journeying through time and place, from the ancient Egyptian pyramids to the soaring skyscrapers of Manhattan, renowned architectural historian Dan Cruickshank explores the most inspirational and characterful world buildings.

His selection includes many of the world’s best known buildings that represent key pioneering moments in architectural history ...such as the Pantheon in Rome, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Taj Mahal in Agra, and the Forbidden City in Beijing.

But he also presents less obvious more surprising structures, the unsung heroes of this fascinating story like the Oriel Chambers in Liverpool, and the Narkomfin Apartment building in Moscow.
Having visited all but three of the 100 buildings, even though some are in inaccessible and threatened locations such as the Hatra in Iraq and the currently threatened Palmyra in Syria, he speaks movingly about ancient artefacts some of which may never be experienced again first hand.