Gavin Stamp
MOST architects are, perhaps fortunately, rather dull and conventional, and books about them tend to do them justice. A curious exception is John Wood, the man who created Georgian Bath. His biogra- phy, by Tim Mowl and Brian Earnshaw, is the first ever to appear about this famous but hitherto shadowy figure (Millstream Books, £15). Now one begins to under- stand why. Subtitled Architect of Obses- sion, it reveals that the builder of apparent- ly orderly, sober façades was an extraor- dinary crank: an enthusiastic Freemason who dabbled in ancient history and arcane symbolism and was besotted with the Druids. Knowing that the King's Circus was inspired by Stonehenge makes one look at Bath with a fresh eye.
A Deuce of an Uproar describes the restoration of Radwinter Church in Essex by that sybaritic Old Etonian architect, Eden Nesfield (Friends of Radwinter Church, £12.50). It deserves a plug, not only because it is a model church history, scholarly and entertaining, and very well Illustrated with drawings, photographs and facsimile letters, but also because it is a brave venture — a much better and lower- priced production than most that come from so-called professional publishers.
There can be no doubt about the worst book of the year: The Prince of Wales, Right or Wrong? by Maxwell Hutchinson (Faber, £4.99). Never can such self-seeking, vulgar, superficial, ignorant and philistine drivel have emanated from a President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
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