Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls
by Robert Thorson
"To know New England well, one must know its stone walls," writes the author of this authoritative paean to the structures he calls the "signatures of rural New England." There were once approximately 240,000 miles of stone walls in New England, and Thorson, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Connecticut, combines natural history and human history as he tells the story of the walls and how they were built.
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The Master Masons of Chartres
by John James
The great cathedral of Chartres is the most impressive and exciting building surviving from the middle ages, andis preserved almost intact. Yet we know nothing of the men who created it. John James, in this masterpiece of detection, shows how he came to identify the master masons from the stones themselves. His meticulous `reading' of the cathedral has revealed much about those men: how they solved problems of engineering and design, how they raised two-ton stones forty metres into the air, and how one mason controlled over 300 men in this gigantic workshop.
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The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals
A Study of Medieval Vault Erection
by John Fitchen
John Fitchen systematically treats the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. He explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today. Since there are no contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, Fitchen's study brilliantly pieces together clues from manuscript illuminations, from pictorial representations, and from the fabrics of the building themselves.
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Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry
by Dieter Arnold
This book traces methods of Egyptian stone construction during the pharaonic period, from the construction of the step pyramids at Saqqara to the obelisks of Tuthmosis III to the temples of Rameses II at Thebes. Dr. Arnold covers all aspects of building, including planning, measuring, quarrying and production, transporting heavy monuments, building, digging shafts, repairing damages, and securing tombs. Richly illustrated with photos and field drawings by the author, ancient representations of building activities, and illustrations of tools and objects in museum collections.
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The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited
by John Romer
A vast amount has been published on the pyramids, but this book offers a refreshing and distinctive approach based on sound scholarship and written in a style that often strikes a spark in the reader's imagination. One comes away reminded what an astonishing building the Great Pyramid is, out on its own in the realm of ancient Egyptian architecture, and therefore something that does not fit into the generalizations that we tend to seek.
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Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology: Stoneworking Technology in Ancient Egypt
by Denys A. Stocks
In this fresh and engaging volume, Denys A. Stocks examines the archaeological and pictorial evidence for masonry in ancient Egypt. Through a series of experiments in which he reconstructs and tests over two hundred replica tools, he brings alive the methods and practices of ancient Egyptian craft working, highlighting the innovations and advances made by this remarkable civilization.