Book excerpt: Robert Willis's monumental architectural history of the University of Cambridge, first published in 1886 in a revised and extended edition by his nephew J. W. Clark, was hailed as 'one of the most important contributors to the social and intellectual history of England which has ever been made by a Cambridge man'. The three illustrated text volumes are now reprinted for the first time, in their entirety, with new introductory material in Volume 1 by David Watkin. Although 'Willis and Clark' has always been reorganised by architectural historians as one of the greatest studies of the buildings of a single historic city, its wider importance and status have been recognised only more recently by those interested generally in the conservation of buildings and in the historic development of architectural style and taste. Its unique collection of over three hundred plans, antique and specially commissioned engravings is alone sufficient to make this the one indispensable work of reference on Cambridge architecture before the onset of the modern age.