`No single recent enterprise has done more to enlarge and deepen our understanding of one of the most critical periods in English history'. Antiquaries Journal The proceedings of the 1996 Battle Conference contain the usual wide range of topics, from the late tenth century to 1200 and from Durham to Southern Italy, demonstrating once again its importance as the leading forum for Anglo-Norman studies. Many different aspects of the Anglo-Norman world are examined, ranging from military technology to the architecture of Durham Cathedral; there are also in-depth investigations of individual families and characters, including William Malet and Abbot Suger.

In this book, Lisa Reilly establishes a new interpretive paradigm for the eleventh and twelfth-century art and architecture of the Norman world in France, England, and Sicily. Traditionally, scholars have considered iconic works like the Cappella Palatina and the Bayeux Embroidery in a geographically piecemeal fashion that prevents us from seeing their full significance. Here, Reilly examines these works individually and within the larger context of a connected Norman world. Just as Rollo founded the Normandy 'of different nationalities', the Normans created a visual culture that relied on an assemblage of forms. To the modern eye, these works are perceived as culturally diverse. As Reilly demonstrates, the multiple sources for Norman visual culture served to expand their meaning. Norman artworks represented the cultural mix of each locale, and the triumph of Norman rule, not just as a military victory but as a legitimate succession, and often as the return of true Christian rule.

Of all building types, the skyscraper strikes observers as the most modern, in terms not only of height but also boldness, scale, ingenuity, and daring. As a phenomenon born in late-nineteenth-century America, it quickly became emblematic of New York, Chicago, and other major cities. Previous studies of these structures have tended to foreground more avowedly modernist approaches, while those with styles reminiscent of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe were initially disparaged as being antimodernist or were simply unacknowledged. Skyscraper Gothic brings together renowned scholars to address the medievalist skyscraper, from the flying buttresses to the dizzying spires, and from the Chicago Tribune Tower to the Woolworth Building in Manhattan.