Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa

Contemporary Review, May, 2004

Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa. Nicholas Shrady. Simon & Schuster. [pounds sterling]12.99. xxiii 165 pages. ISBN 0-7432-3169-4. As the author writes, the Tower of Pisa 'is one of those singular monuments which beauty and a sense of bewilderment have conspired to transform into a universal architectural icon'.

The 800-year history of the campanile is also a 'cautionary tale of inspired architecture and human machinations, temporal ambitions and spiritual longing, science and superstition, and our persistent urge to gaze in awe at all that is improbable and strange'. Its recent rescue from inevitable collapse, led by Prof. John Burland, is also part of the fascinating story. This is an enjoyable history but one that is not helped by the skewed or slanted shape of the book itself: it was meant to be clever but is not. (P.P.F.)