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His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren by: Adrian Tinniswood |
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Binding: Hardcover EAN: 9780224042987 ISBN: 022404298X Label: Jonathan Cape Ltd Manufacturer: Jonathan Cape Ltd Number Of Pages: 484 Publication Date: July 12, 2001 Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd Studio: Jonathan Cape Ltd Sales Rank: 719509 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Amazon.co.uk Review: In his biography His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren Adrian Tinniswood offers a sweeping account of Sir Christopher Wren, allegedly the greatest architect England ever produced. Wren's long life spanned the English and Scientific Revolutions, the Restoration of the monarchy in 1688, the Great Fire of London and the creation of the most enduring of all London monuments, St Paul's Cathedral. As Tinniswood points out, Wren was a key player in all these events, "a man who made ground-breaking discoveries in optics, astronomy, anatomy, mathematics; a man who combined his scientific interests with an architectural career spanning six reigns and nearly six decades; the arbiter of architectural taste to generations of designers and courtiers". Tinniswood tries to put the man back into the genius, despite conceding that "we need to appreciate that Wren's work was his life". The domestic details of Wren's complex private life are carefully detailed, but Tinniswood often seems overawed by his hero, especially when trying to come to grips with the finer points of Wren's mathematical achievements and his extraordinary architectural output, which require a more scholarly grasp than Tinniswood is able to provide. Concluding that no one "has ever possessed as much vision as Christopher Wren", some may feel that Tinniswood himself has identified, but ultimately failed to capture the precise nature of this remarkable vision. --Jerry Brotton Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Extremely readable account of England's greatest architectTinniswood's new book is the first of a string of new biographies of Wren due out over the next few years. Tinniswood is a writer first and a historian second and he was succeeded in producing a book that is undoubtedly highly readable. The tone is, as a colleague described, positively conspiratorial and the reader is seduced into turning each of the 463 pages to find out what happens next. This is thoroughly admirable in a history book and there is no doubt that Tinniswood has succeeded in his aim of producing the most readable account of Wren's life to date. He is also extremely good at setting the scene, quoting from a wide range of sources from the period, rumour as well as fact. In view of all this it seems mean to find fault, but as ... Read More: Rating:  - Discover and delight in Wren MasterpieceA knowledgeable biography with an all encompasing understanding of the architectual genius of the man - the best known of the British elite creators - but still appreciating the scope and range of Wren's search for knowledge. An affectionate tale exploring, if not begging desperately for some essence of the man, who despite his interest in anatomy and the physical seems to materially exist soley through his work. Human and enjoyable read. A difficult act to follow. |
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