Dan Cruickshank, whose "Around the World in 80 Treasures" sold more than 70,000 copies, presents a compelling, maverick history of architecture. Richly photographed, it navigates the globe to take us to the buildings Dan believes have changed the world. As he reveals each choice, he also shows exactly how a great edifice's function, material, and purpose connect to all other areas of life. What he sees is the work of man at his most inventive, defying or accommodating the forces of nature in a variety of civilizations--examples of beauty, power, paradise, and dreams: the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg; the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan; the Hanging Temple in Shanxi, China; the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil; Pompeii's Lupanare Brothels; and the building of an igloo in Greenland.