John Nash (1752-1835) was the most successful and fashionable architect of his time. Architect, town-planner, landscape designer, bridge-builder, engineer and entrepreneur, Nash outlived his principal patron, George IV, by five years. After a disheartening start, when his first speculative buildings in Bloomsbury failed and left him bankrupt, Nash moved to Wales to rebuild his career, eventually returning to London in 1796. He had made a remarkable recovery and went on to become the most successful and fashionable architect of the period. His buildings reflect a variety of styles, including neo-classical, Tudor and Gothic, with a strong emphasis on the Picturesque. His Metropolitan Improvements - Regent's Park, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square - were the most comprehensive developments ever carried out in London, even until recent times.

This fully illustrated comprehensive survey of Nash's works includes all of his known and attributed works. Michael Mansbridge's superb photographs of Nash's extant buildings show Nash's architecture as never before and are complemented by contemporary views and old photographs of demolished buildings, as well as original sketches of designs never executed. The illustrations are accompanied by catalogue entries giving general information about the buildings, their settings and their original owners. In all, nearly 300 projects are discussed. Each entry has its own bibliography and many have plans. The lively introduction, written by the distinguished architectural historian Sir John Summerson (1904-92), gives a perspective portrait of this imaginative and influential architect. The book includes a gazetteer, a list of clients and patrons, a glossary of architectural terms, and two maps - one of Great Britain and Ireland and one of London - giving the locations of Nash's buildings.