San Antonio College Library

Buckingham Palace may be just about the most famous building in the world, but its story is much less familiar. Fiona Bruce reveals how England's most spectacular palace emerged from a swampy backwater in just 300 years. The journey of discovery takes her from the sewers of London to the magnificent State Rooms; from a home for camels and elephants to the artistic brilliance of 18th-century Venice; and from a prince's Chinese fantasy to the secret...

From the bowels of the Castle to the heights of the battlements, Fiona encounters all manner of royal treasures-from the musket ball that killed a naval hero to table decorations in gold and silver and encrusted with jewels; from the triple-headed portrait of a king who lost his head to Queen Mary's Dolls' House with running taps, and a secret garden hidden in a drawer. All of this was almost lost in the disastrous fire of 1992.

The Forbidden City provides a lively and informative history, along with many illustrations of perhaps Chinas most famous city.

Traces the development of art and architecture in India over a period of 2,000 years.

A desire to recreate Minoan palaces, villas, and houses of the Late Bronze Age inspired the author of this book to undertake an eight year research program that has radically modified our conception of the appearance of Cretan dwellings. He not only interprets the use of the rooms that partially survive but reconstructs the guest suites and banquet halls of the vanished upper storeys. Written both as a preparation for a visit to Crete and as an actual...