{"title":"Wonders Of The World Ser","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"st-pancras-station-book-simon-bradley-9781861979964","title":"St Pancras Station","description":"In 1866 the ancient churchyard of St Pancras was excavated for the new Midlands Railway line into London. Both the train shed and the Midland Grand Hotel, the constituent parts of the new station, are outstanding structures: the train shed for its structural daring and drama, the hotel for its heroic attempt to adapt Gothic architecture for the requirements of modernity. In 2002 more of the churchyard was excavated as part of the station's transformation for the Channel Tunnel terminus. The work, to be finished in 2007, will reinvent St Pancras as the main hub for rail travellers between the UK and Europe. In the years between, the station has flourished but has also come close to being demolished. Simon Bradley examines this fascinating story of changes in taste and of our understanding of the past. It is a reminder of the revolutionary effects of the railway and of how the innovations of the Industrial Revolution have weathered subsequent technological change. St Pancras demands to be understood for the continuing thrall in which great urban monuments can hold us. The Wonders of the World is a series of books that focuses on some of the world's most famous sites or monuments. Their names will be familiar to almost everyone: they have achieved iconic stature and are loaded with a fair amount of mythological baggage. These monuments have been the subject of many books over the centuries, but our aim, through the skill and stature of the writers, is to get something much  more enlightening, stimulating, even controversial, than straightforward histories or guides.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49566854906129,"sku":"GOR001366379","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50064260006161,"sku":"CIN1861979967G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50402403942673,"sku":"CIN1861979967A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1861979967.jpg?v=1751061336"},{"product_id":"westminster-abbey-book-richard-jenkyns-9780674017160","title":"Westminster Abbey","description":"An exploration of Westminster Abbey's shifting meanings sheds new light on this complex and extraordinary architectural masterpiece, detailing the development of the church and its role in British history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49729621885201,"sku":"CIN0674017161G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50308732420369,"sku":"CIN0674017161VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50361033785617,"sku":"CIN0674017161A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0674017161.jpg?v=1750880135"},{"product_id":"parthenon-na-book-m-beard-9780674010857","title":"The Parthenon (Na)","description":"\u003cp\u003ePraise for the previous edition: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWry and imaginative, this gem of a book deconstructs the most famous building in Western history.-Benjamin Schwarz, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn her brief but compendious volume  Beard] says that the more we find out about this mysterious structure, the less we know. Her book is especially valuable because it is up to date on the restoration the Parthenon has been undergoing since 1986.-Gary Wills, \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once an entrancing cultural history and a congenial guide for tourists, armchair travelers, and amateur archaeologists alike, this book conducts readers through the storied past and towering presence of the most famous building in the world. In the revised version of her classic study, Mary Beard now includes the story of the long-awaited new museum opened in 2009 to display the sculptures from the building that still remain in Greece, as well as the controversies that have surrounded it, and asks whether it makes a difference to the Elgin Marble debate.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49758240571665,"sku":"CIN067401085XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51423105909009,"sku":"CIN067401085XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52108650152209,"sku":"GOR006991560","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/067401085X.jpg?v=1751009319"},{"product_id":"alhambra-book-robert-irwin-9780674015685","title":"The Alhambra","description":"\u003cp\u003eRead the Bldg Blog interview with Mary Beard about the Wonders of the World series(Part I and Part I) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Alhambra has long been a byword for exotic and melancholy beauty. In his absorbing new book, Robert Irwin, Arabist and novelist, examines its history and allure. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Alhambra is the only Muslim palace to have survived since the Middle Ages. Built by a threatened dynasty of Muslim Spain, it was preserved as a monument to the triumph of Christianity. Every day thousands of tourists enter this magnificent site to be awestruck by its towers and courts, its fountained gardens, its honeycombed ceilings and intricate tile work. It is a complex full of mysteries--even its purpose is unclear. Its sophisticated ornamentation is not indiscriminate but full of hidden meaning. Its most impressive buildings were designed not by architects, but by philosophers and poets. The Alhambra, which resembles a fairy-tale palace, was constructed by slave labor in an era of economic decline, plague, and political violence. Its sumptuously appointed halls have lain witness to murder and mayhem. Yet its influence on art and on literature--including Orientalist painting and the architecture of cinemas, Washington Irving and Jorge Luis Borges--has been lasting and significant. As our guide to this architectural masterpiece, Robert Irwin allows us to fully understand the impact of the Alhambra.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49764257333521,"sku":"CIN0674015681G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50421956772113,"sku":"GOR010240832","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51744148193553,"sku":"CIN0674015681VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0674015681.jpg?v=1750880133"},{"product_id":"seven-wonders-of-the-modern-world-book-reg-cox-9780382392719","title":"The Seven Wonders of the Modern World","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49785771852049,"sku":"CIN038239271XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/038239271X.jpg?v=1750740459"},{"product_id":"seven-wonders-of-the-historic-world-book-reg-cox-9780382392696","title":"The Seven Wonders of the Historic World","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49801052422417,"sku":"CIN0382392698G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0382392698.jpg?v=1750846115"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/wonders-of-the-world-ser-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}