"This series of 10 volumes record[s] the century's most significant architectural achievements and cover[s] all parts of the world. Altogether 1000 buildings and urban complexes have been selected by noted architectural writers and critics. Within each volume, one hundred significant examples represent the political, economical, cultural and demographic evolution of the particular region over the century. THe evident complexity of the enterprise cannot entirely exclude a few arbitrary choices. Not only does the selection procedure reflect individual choices, but also the division of the globe into transnational regions of vastly differing size and character evokes a specific appearance of world architecture. Thus this architectural collection is to be understood as a critical mosaic representing as a whole the entire evolution of world architecture from 1900-2000"--Bookjackets.