1,500 A-Z entries cover all aspects of architecture, from architects, building types, and movements and styles to materials, aspects of design, and definitions. The Companion offers complete coverage of architecture from around the world, giving equal weight to architecture in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America as to the more familiar examples from Western Europe and the United States, and of both modern and vernacular architecture. It covers all periods, from the beginnings of architecture in ancient Egypt to the present day, and yet is strongly rooted in an approach to architecture that looks at its social, technical, and practical aspects, beyond an art-historical perspective. --from publisher description