Classical architecture is a visual "language" and like any other language has its own grammatical rules. Classical buildings as widely spaced in time as a Roman temple, an Italian Renaissance palace and a Regency house all show an awareness of these rules even if they vary them, break them or poetically contradict them. Sir Christopher Wren described them as the "Latin" of architecture and the analogy is almost exact. There is the difference, however, that whereas the learning of Latin is a slow and difficult business, the language of classical architecture is relatively simple. It is still, to a great extent, the mode of expression of our urban surroundings, since classical architecture was the common language of the western world till comparatively recent times. Anybody to whom architecture makes a strong appeal has probably already discovered something of its grammar for himself.in this book, the author's purpose is to set out as simply and vividly as possible the exact grammatical workings of this architectural language. He is less concerned with its development in Greece and Rome than with its expansion and use in the centuries since the Renaissance. He explains the vigorous discipline of "the orders" and the scope of "rustication"; the dramatic deviations of the Baroque and, in the last chapter, the relationship between the classical tradition and the "modern" architecture of today. The book is intended for anybody who cares for architecture but more specifically for students beginning a course in the history of architecture, to whom a guide to the classical rules will be an essential companion.

約翰·薩莫森（John Summerson，1904—1992）爵士是當代最偉大的英國建築史學傢之一。從1945年起直至1984年退休，他一直擔任約翰·索恩爵士博物館館長，同時被聘為牛津大學和劍橋大學斯萊德藝術講座教授，並在倫敦伯剋貝剋學院主講建築史。在他眾多的著作中，最著名的可能是《喬治時代的倫敦》和《1530—1830年的英國建築》，兩者都是該領域的經典著作。他也是“藝術世界”係列中《十八世紀建築》的作者。

張欣瑋（譯者），1985年浙江大學文物博物館專業曆史學學士，任職於浙江省文物考古研究所，多年從事古建築保護工作。1996年美國羅馬林達大學婚姻傢庭治療碩士畢業後，從事對照顧老年父母的成年子女的心理研究，有多項論文發錶。後在西雅圖大學研讀教育心理學，為美國國傢級學校心理學傢，任職華盛頓州塔科馬市公立學區至今。愛好閱讀，遍訪名山大川，文明古跡。