Sebastiano Serlio architect. Translated from the German by Peter Spring.

'Ask who was the most influential 16th century architect and the answer you are most likely to get is Andrea Palladio. ... But in Palladio's day, and for much of the 17th century, the answer would have been Sebastiano Serlio. ... the books that Serlio wrote were fundamental to the spread of Classicism across northern Europe. ... It has been hard to judge his significance because, astonishingly, until now there was no book on him in English ... Sabine Frommel's liberally illustrated monograph fills that gap. ... it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the sources that really lie behind the introduction of Classical Architecture to England.'(Country Life, July 2004)