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Harry Mount's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Harry Mount recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Harry Mount's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

London 4

North

This volume on London architecture covers the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey and Islington. It gives a view of London's expansion northward from formal Georgian squares, to the hill towns of Hampstead and Highgate. less
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountHe went round every county in Britain doing these guides and so they are quite dry, but they are absolutely fantastic for the facts and the dates and who built what when. (Source)

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2
In this book Sir John Summerson charts the development of architectural theory and practice from Elizabeth I to George IV. Questions of style, technology, and the social framework of architecture are resolved as separable but always essential components of the building world. Men of genius and buildings of fame emerge: Inigo Jones, Wren, Vanbrugh, Adam, Soane; Hampton Court, St Paul's Cathedral, London squares and the terraces and crescents of Bath. Appendices deal with Scottish architecture before the union and buildings in the thirteen colonies of America. The book is a companion to Ellis... more
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountIt’s quite a dryish academic book but it puts things together beautifully. (Source)

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3

The Pattern Of English Building

Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountYou realise that, until about 100 years ago, every single building was built out of the stuff that was in the ground beneath it. (Source)

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4

Pillar to Post

A brief survey of architectural history, accompanied by the author's cartoon illustrations. less
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountIt’s very hard to be funny about architecture, but he’s good at doing funny drawings of whatever it might be. (Source)

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5

Summoned by Bells

A Verse Autobiography

Summoned by Bells has become a classic. Shortly after it was published in 1960 it was heralded as the verse autobiography of the century. It is a uniquely evocative narrative of the agonies and delights of growing up, set against the familiar backgrounds of Highgate, Cornwall, Marlborough and Oxford, and recounted in a way that has endeared Betjeman to generations of readers. less
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountI think he’s an absolute genius when it comes to talking about buildings in human terms. (Source)

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6

A Loeb Classical Library Reader

This selection of lapidary nuggets drawn from 33 of antiquity's major authors includes poetry, dialogue, philosophical writing, history, descriptive reporting, satire, and fiction--giving a glimpse at the wide range of arts and sciences, thought and styles, of Greco-Roman culture. The selections span twelve centuries, from Homer to Saint Jerome. The texts and translations are reproduced as they appear in Loeb volumes. The Loeb Classical Library(R) is the only existing series of books which, through original text and facing English translation, gives access to all that is important in Greek... more
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountEven with basic Latin, you’ll be able to read Ovid or Horace or Propertius. (Source)

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7

Ad Infinitum

A Biography Of Latin

Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountIt’s a brilliant book explaining how and why Latin became the European language. (Source)

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8

Asterix Gallus

periculam quoddam Asterigis

Dans le camp fortifié romain Petibonum, on se pose des questions : comment les Irréductibles Gaulois du village d’Astérix font-ils pour ridiculiser encore et toujours la puissance romaine ? Décidé à percer à jour le mystère de la force surhumaine de nos héros, le centurion Caius Bonus envoie un espion déguisé en Gaulois.

C’est Caligula Minus qui s’y colle, et découvre bien vite l’existence de la potion magique préparée par Panoramix. Sans attendre, le centurion Caius Bonus fait enlever le druide pour s’emparer de la recette du fameux breuvage histoire, qui sait, de devenir César à...
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Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountIt’s a really good way of learning your first proper Latin sentences. (Source)

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9
If you are serious about learning Latin, then this is the course for you. "So You Really Want to Learn Latin" plunges the reader head-first into the classical world, teaching the essential grammar and vocabulary required for a confident and competent use of Latin. Ideal for learners of all ages and abilities, Book I introduces pupils to regular verbs in all six active tenses, nouns of the first three declensions, sum, adjectives of the 1st/2nd declension, prepositions, numerals and the history of Rome from Aeneas to Cloelia. Highly recommended by John Clare in "The Daily Telegraph", "So You... more
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountIt squares the circle. (Source)

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10

The Revised Latin Primer

Described by Mary Beard in The Independent as 'the Rolls Royce of textbooks', Kennedy's classic 1888 guide has remained the pre-eminent Latin reference grammar in schools and universities for well over a century. This is a reissue of the first edition, which appeared the year before the author's death. Benjamin Hall Kennedy (1804 1889), headmaster of Shrewsbury School for thirty years before becoming Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge, was probably assisted by his daughters in producing this completely revised version of an earlier, unsuccessful publication. From tables of nouns and verbs... more
Recommended by Harry Mount, and 1 others.

Harry MountKennedy is very concise, but it has the answer to every problem in Latin in it. (Source)

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