Among the most influential figures of the gothic revival in nineteenth‎-century britain‎,‎ augustus welby northmore pugin ‎(‎1812‎-52‎)‎ distinguished himself as an architect‎,‎ author and interior designer‎.‎ He had crafted furniture for george iv at windsor‎,‎ but his greatest triumph was the design and fitting out of the new palace of westminster with charles barry ‎(‎1795‎-1860‎)‎ following the fire of 1834‎.‎ First published in 1836‎,‎ contrasts is pugin‎'‎s most famous work‎,‎ championing the medieval over the modern through satirical comparison of divergent styles‎.‎ Reissued here in its substantially revised second edition of 1841‎,‎ the book reflects its author‎'‎s catholicism and a developing interpretation of gothic architecture‎.‎ Along with the true principles of pointed or christian architecture ‎(‎1841‎)‎‎,‎ this work remains essential reading for those seeking to understand the growth of the gothic revival‎,‎ illuminating with many illustrations the theories guiding one of britain‎'‎s most important architects‎.‎