This is the first full-length study of 19th-century architect Thomas Rickman (1776 -1841), widely acknowledged as the leading expert on English Medieval architecture and credited with initiating the Gothic Revival style. Rickman's book An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture (1817), which drew on his knowledge of some 500 buildings across the British Isles, introduced architectural terminology and classifications that are still used today.

A Quaker who first trained and practised as a doctor and then as an accountant, Rickman came late to architecture through an interest in antiquaries. He subsequently founded an architectural practice, first in Liverpool and then in Birmingham, and became one of the most successful architects of his day. He designed and built numerous country houses, including a palace for the Bishop of Carlisle, as well as many churches, some hospitals and asylums, and the New Court of St John’s College, Cambridge, which included the famous Bridge of Sighs. He was also hugely influential to the generation of neo-Gothic architects who followed him, including Pugin.

This fascinating biography provides the first full account of the architect and antiquarian’s life and work. Drawing on the 57 volumes of Rickman's diaries now housed in the RIBA archives, the book provides useful insights into the day-to-day business of architecture in the late Georgian era. Rickman's diaries also situate him within the vibrant world of the Industrial Revolution in Northern English cities – particularly Liverpool, Bradford and Manchester.