A History of Architecture in All Countries is James Fergusson’s ambitious attempt to write a universal history of building, tracing architecture from the earliest times to his own day across the civilizations of the world. These first two volumes cover ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome, the early Christian and Byzantine traditions, and the medieval architecture of Europe.
Fergusson was among the most influential architectural historians of the nineteenth century, and his comparative method shaped how the subject was taught for generations. His sweeping narrative and confident judgments reflect the perspective of his era and reward critical reading. The work remains a monument of Victorian scholarship and a foundational survey in the long effort to understand the world’s architecture as a single story.