Examines how architecture has evolved over time by looking at buildings that typify each period, from the pyramids and the Parthenon to the Chrysler Building and the Sydney Opera House. "We spend most of our lives in buildings. We make our homes in them. We go to school in them. We work in them. But why and how did people start making buildings? How did they learn to make them stronger, bigger, and more comfortable? Why did they start to decorate...

Reveals the how and why behind some of the most fascinating and enduring structures humankind has ever created. The castle, cathedral, and mosque are fictional structures set within a historical framework. Includes a glossary.

"In twelve-year-old Giacomo's Renaissance-inspired world, art is powerful, dangerous, and outlawed. Every artist possesses a Genius, a birdlike creature that is the living embodiment of an artist's creative spirit. Those caught with one face severe punishment, so when Giacomo discovers he has a Genius, he knows he's in big trouble"--