These are three different books but I would urge you to read them all, one after another. It won’t take long; so far as text is concerned, you can read each book in less than an hour. But you will take longer because you will want to take time looking at and lingering over the exquisite line drawings that illustrate exactly how people in the past built a Roman city, and a medieval cathedral and castle.

I don’t think they are still in print but it really is worth hunting these down in second-hand bookshops. I think I learned more about classical and medieval architecture than from any other books – certainly so far as the practical aspects of building a city, a cathedral or a castle is concerned.

Very highly recommended!