Description

The early churches of New England hold a special place in the American consciousness, revered for their physical beauty, simplicity, and elegance and for their role in the early history of this country. Places of worship they were and are, but they are also icons of a particularly American sensibility and artistic vision.

Photographer Steve Rosenthal has traveled throughout the northeast capturing the gems of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and tracing the evolution of church styles from the early, dramatically simple meetinghouse form through the changing patterns of Greek and Gothic revivals. His photographs capture the intrinsic beauty of the architecture while creating a world of rich order and rational light. He has frozen in time the New England buildings that may soon be—or have already been—lost in a chaotic, contemporary world.

About the Author

Steve Rosenthal, trained as an architect, is a well-known architectural photographer based in Boston. His work has appeared in architectural and design journals and books. He is the co-author of five children's books on architecture. His work has been recognized with numerous awards including the American Institute of Architects Institute Honors in 1984.

Verlyn Klinkenborg is a member of the editorial board of the New York Times. He is the author of numerous books, including The Rural Life (2004) and Making Hay (2003). His work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, National Geographic, GQ, and elsewhere.

Robert Campbell is the Pulitzer Prize–winning architecture critic of the Boston Globe.