In Ruins

“Graceful. . . . A brief, spacious and personal book of travels and meditation.” –The New York Times

“A grand tour. . . . Eclectic, learned.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Freshly provocative. . . . Meticulously well-observed and well-traveled. . . . A steady stream of ebullient erudition [and] an outpouring of melancholy grandeur.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Nothing short of a masterpiece.” –Literary Review

“If the painstaking Simon Schama is memory’s metaphysician, the late W. G. Sebald . . . is memory’s poet and its conscience. . . . Among these giants, Woodward’s elegant book has earned him an honored place.” –The Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Intriguing. . . . Woodward’s enthusiasm for ruins is infectious. . . . . A fascinating tour.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“Brilliant, daring and evocative.” –The Guardian

“Absorbing. . . . Delightful. . . . Woodward does a terrific job of showing us the variety of ways artifacts have been interpreted and treated over the years. . . . In Woodward, [ruins] have an accomplished and eloquent spokesperson.” –The Providence Journal

“A handsomely written, constantly surprising meditation upon ruins . . . and the way they provide consolation in the face of so much human folly.” –Daily News (New York)

“An enchanting and informative voyage. . . . Fizzes with felicitous detail, anecdote, literary reference, and art history.” –Evening Standard

“Beautifully written. . . . Contains astonishing facts, interesting digressions, alluring illustrations and tantalizing references. . . . An entertaining, even an endearing work.” –Winston-Salem Journal

“Fetching. . . . Whimsical. . . . Woodward’s enthusiasms are catching.” –The New York Observer

“A thought-provoking grand tour of familiar–and lesser-known–stops along the . . . archaeological trail.” –Archaeology

“Nothing less than a guided tour of the world’s most celebrated ruins as well as a short history of the human intellect as it has contemplated these ruins.” –The Tennessean

“Rich, allusive, learned, delightful. . . . Not a breath of pretension emanates from this engaging, illuminating volume.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Masterful. . . . Well-illustrated. . . . Constantly entertaining.” –The Times (Trenton, NJ)

“A thoughtful book. . . . After reading it, no building will seem safe from time’s depredations.” –Conde Nast Traveller