This is the story of architecture as never seen before. A brilliantly original book that takes us from the colossal achievements of antiquity to their ersatz rebuilding in Las Vegas, telling stories about buildings and the ways they change.

The plans are drawn up, a site is chosen, foundations are dug: a building comes into being with the expectation that it will stay put and stay for ever. But a building is a capricious thing: it is inhabited and changed, and its existence is a tale of constant and curious transformation. In this radical re-imagination of architectural history, Edward Hollis tells the stories of thirteen buildings, beginning with the 'once upon a time' when they first appeared, through the years of appropriation, ruin and renovation, and ending with a temporary 'ever after'. In spell-binding prose, Hollis follows his buildings through time and space to reveal the hidden histories of the Parthenon and the Alhambra, Gloucester Cathedral and Ayasofya, Sans Souci and Notre Dame de Paris, Malatesta's Tempio and Loreto, exploring too the landmarks of our own time, from Hulme's legendary crescents in Manchester to the Berlin Wall and the fibre glass theme parks of Las Vegas.