Sir Herbert Baker

<p> This is the first full biography from childhood of the eminent British Architect Sir Herbert Baker. Written with the full cooperation of his family and with access to his archive and private papers it gives an account of his remarkable life as the leading architect to the British Empire. From London through the commemoration of the empire's war dead in France via South Africa and Australia to India he celebrated the might of an empire that once ruled a quarter of the world. He was an intimate friend of many of most fascinating men of his age including Cecil Rhodes Lawrence of Arabia John Buchan Jan Smuts and of course his fellow architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. After a Victorian architectural apprenticeship in London and on to becoming the most prolific architect of his age in South Africa he built the new imperial capital of New Delhi in India with Lutyens before returning to London. These built or rebuilt such landmark buildings as the Bank of England South Africa House India House Rhodes House and the stands for Lords Cricket Ground as well as numerous churches and private houses. </p>