Mausoleums

Mausoleums magnificent, monumental tombs are often haunting, powerful buildings in evocative sites. The author reveals their history, beginning with the great tomb at Halicarnassos built for King Mausolos of Caria by his wife Queen Artemisia in the fourth century BC, which gave the monuments their name. She explains the details of their architecture, ranging from massive Egyptianate landmarks through elegant Georgian temples to lavishly decorated Victorian tombs, and considers the motives of mausoleum builders. A substantial, well-illustrated gazetteer of over 150 examples in Britain completes the book, leading the reader on a journey from the remote Sinclair Mausoleum in the north of Caithness a tiny castle known as Harold's Tower to the hugely ornate Royal Mausoleum at Windsor.