Anyone seeking a single volume dictionary of architecture. has in fact only one choice, and that is Curl. Once you have Curl's dictionary on your shelf, it rapidly becomes indispensible.''The triumph of this volume is Curl's compositions. This is an ambitious work and a successful one, which will find a place in most general and specialist collections.''David Harrison, Reference Reviews'Review from previous edition Dictionaries, Dr Johnson's excepted, are not supposed to be fascinating, only useful. The problem with James Stevens Curl's chunky achievement is that it is both.Curl's prose has a limpid clarity as well as a keen line in memorable aphorisms.

'Timothy Mowl, Architects Journal Thurs 8th April 1999, p.48.'This is an immensely ambitious book.On accuracy, Curl can hardly be faulted. His entries are eminently reliable.'Dan Cruickshank, World Architecture, July/August 1999'Handsomely demonstrates that a work of reference can be comprehensive and a polished piece of literature in its own right.Delightful touches of irony emerge in entries where the author's preferences peep through without compromising scholarly integrity.'Jennifer Freeman, Building Design, 13.

8.99'splendid.a smasher.you can't have a more concise, entertaining, and informative guide to the words of architecture.'Peter Davey, Architectural Review.