A master stonemason on the art of carving beauty and order out of stone, from Canterbury Cathedral to Angkor Wat.

Around the world and across the ages, the greatest and most lasting buildings have tended to be made of stone. The eminent English stonemason Simon Warrack has sought to conserve and maintain many of them for forty years, and in this glittering debut he tells the story behind some of the grandest monuments and buildings he’s worked on. He explains the joys and challenges of working with different kinds of stone (marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, travertine) and on ancient walls, majestic obelisks, and glorious temples, palaces, and churches from England to Ethiopia, Italy to Cambodia. He describes stonecutters’ tools and techniques as they’ve been passed down through the ages, and the wonder of working so intimately on monuments to human ingenuity and divine belief. Monumental is a delightful account of historic conservation at the level of chisel and stone, and a powerful argument for safeguarding our shared history.

About the Author:

Simon Warrack received a degree in Renaissance history before becoming a stonemason in the 1980s. He attended the Building Crafts Training School in London and the UNESCO Stone Conservation Course in Venice. He lives in Italy. This is his first book.