The Roman period was Britain's first great architectural age, though this is sometimes difficult to appreciate from the ruinous state of the sites that survive. This book looks at how in a few years Britain witnessed the design and erection of an astonishing range of buildings, from mundane and functional houses through to exotic temples and ambitious civil engineering projects. Some of Britain's Roman architects turn out to have been innovators. Reconstruction drawings and paintings by the author bring these vanished buildings back to life and recreate a lost world of forts, basilicas, theatres, baths, arches, classical temples, villas and lighthouses.
Guy de la Bidoyhre has degrees in archaeology and modern history from Durham University, the University of London and the Institute of Archaeology. His main field of study is the history and archaeology of Roman Britain, on which he has written twelve books. He has presented a series on Roman Britain for BBC Radio 4 and BBC2 and has made numerous appearances on Channel 4's popular archaeology series Time Team. Other titles for Shire by this author are:

Aviation Archaeology
The Home Front
Pottery in Roman Britain