Chartres, The Masons who built a Legend, by John James (pp 190, large format and heavily illustrated). Published in 1982. This book is a tour de force investigation into the building of the cathedral at Chartres, considered by many to be the most beautiful and impressive of all Gothic cathedrals. That noted, the author starts off by describing the overall design “a mess.” He then proceeds in excruciating and minute detail to prove his point, all the while arguing that despite the innumerable irregularities it is, indeed, exquisitely masterful and beautiful. The cathedral was built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, and unlike virtually every other monumental cathedral, was constructed in one generation — about 30 years. To understand the building’s construction with very few surviving plans, he meticulously measured every aspect of every structural element, and deconstructed them almost stone by stone, layer by layer. As a result, the book balances explanations in plain English, numerous illustrations, and a mind-boggling number of geometric diagrams and measurements. Compounding already complex plans, building elements, and strategies, was the use of at least nine separate construction teams, each working, on average, for about a year before being replaced by another team ... on and on years after year. Then throw in some sort of master plan, no clearly defined overseeing architect, different approaches to building by each team, and clerical guidance (unlearned in construction). To mix it up further, each team used their own measures (employing different length foot and rod measures) and each having their own templates for structural elements (edges, bases, window styles, construction methods, ad infinitum). From my uninformed perspective, this approach was madness and should have resulted in a fast track to failure. Of course, it didn’t. In fact, everything hung together and resulted in a magnificent structure that has existed mostly unchanged for over 700 years. To do this study, the author (and presumably his team) measured every building elements to the centimeter, studied every design element in detail, looked at different building styles (comparing them to other cathedrals in Western Europe), found masons’ marks on as many stones as possible, looked at the theological rationale for the various numbers used in the church’s dimensions, etc. The degree of study is incomprehensible, at least to me. By doing all of that and more, Mr Janes was able to identify who did what work and when, in what sequence different sections were built, how they were built, where changes occurred, speculated as to why, what structural problems had to become overcome and how that was done, etc. This book was, I believe, written for architects and engineers, including those with theological backgrounds. I’m guessing only experts can really make sense of all this book contains. I first read about Cathedral building in the children’s book Cathedral, The a Story of its Construction (1973), and followed that years later with The Cathedral Builders, by Jean Gimple (1980). (I think there was a third book along the way but I can’t locate it.) I should have stuck to the children’s book! Actually, I found Chartres fascinating, though impenetrable in sections. While it included many illustrative photos and drawings, it could have used three times more. If you buy this, you’d best have a background in geometry, theology, masonry, and Medieval history. Good luck. ( )