"Discarding all the tired narratives of Britain’s insular modernism as a faint echo of continental stylistic and technical bravura, Alan Powers gives us an erudite, spirited, sometimes irreverent – and ultimately sensitive – assessment of British architectural invention from the decline of Empire to the rise of Devolution. Architectural practice itself, and the changing economic and political policies that inflected its trajectories, are given prominence in dialogue with stylistic and intellectual trends. There is a lasting freshness to this account, and an ecumenical embrace of variety, that will make this lively text a standard for years to come."

Barry Bergdoll, Chief Curator of Architecture & Design, Museum of Modern Art, and professor of Architectural History, Columbia University

"Powers romps through the history of British modernism and its precursors with intelligence, flair, and humour."

RIBA Journal

"With more than 220 recent and historical photographs, this is an authoritative yet highly accessible account of 20th century British architecture, and adds a new and original dimension to the problem of defining ’Britain’ in the modern world."

Church Building

"Sparkling first of a series about modern architectures. . . . Half apostate himself, he simply opens up British modernism to the opposition. By so doing he makes it more inculsive humane, and amusing. . . . His open-mindedness is always refreshing, extending to an outspoken advocacy of sneered-at Milton Keynes. . . . Not that intellectual input is wanting, for Powers enjoys and is patient with architectural ideas. . . . The story Powers tells is more honest, more complex, less dogmatic, and less moralizing. Without ever quite losing his thread, he contrives to persuade the reader that Britain really contributed something unique to modern architecture."

Andrew Saint | Times Literary Supplement

"He remains, throughout his text, unaligned, presenting his empirical data as a historian and critic with an objectivity and detachment that is admirable."

Neil Jackson | Times Higher Education Supplement