"American Architecture introduces the major developments that shaped the American-built environment from before the arrival of the Europeans to the present, from ceremonial enclosures and homes to modernism and its discontents. On both the high-style architecture of aspiration and the everyday vernacular architecture, Leland Roth presents the historical impact of changes in conceptual imagery, style, building technology, landscape design, and town-planning theory.

There is also extensive historical coverage of 17th- and 18th-century architecture and regional style. Throughout Roth charts the gradual development of towns, cities, and suburbs along with the social, cultural, and political forces that shaped their growth."--BOOK JACKET.