Perisian Architecture

Arthur Upham Pope's "Persian Architecture" is a superb book in a field that, outside of special studies in the "Survey" and Dr. Pope's own work, has never been adequately treated in English. The most casual student of architecture should find even the first contact with this work a dazzling experience, for its illustrations demonstrate the unique character of Persian architecture: the integration of durable colored surfaces of intricate pattern with audacious constructive forms. The unique feat puts Persian architecture on a par with that of Egypt, Greece or our own Middle Ages. With his characteristic historic grasp and philosophic acumen, Dr. Pope has summed up in a book of relatively modest dimensions a whole lifetime of ardent research.
—Lewis Mumford