Gaudi: God's Architect
About this ebook
In reconnecting Gaudí's peerless architecture with the highs and lows of his faith, Peter Stanford walks in his footsteps through Barcelona, retracing his life through the buildings, parks and landscapes he admired and those that he created. Join him on Gaudí's journey from the Catalan countryside, where his love affair with nature began, to becoming a celebrated figure in the booming industrial city of Barcelona, with its extremes of rich and poor - and its undercurrent of violence and anti-clericalism that almost left La Sagrada Família an unfinished folly. Tragedy, loss and depression stalked his life, but reinforced his belief that his work was a religious vocation, prompting contemporary moves by the Vatican towards declaring him a saint.
About the author
Peter Stanford is a writer, journalist, broadcaster and prison reform campaigner. His biography subjects include the Cabinet minister and penal reformer, Lord Longford (made into a BAFTA-winning film), the Poet Laureate, C Day-Lewis, the Protestant reformer Martin Luther and the Devil (televised by the BBC), while his writings on the history, theology and cultural significance of religious ideas include Heaven: A Traveller's Guide, Pilgrimage: Journeys of Meaning, Judas: The Troubling History of the Renegade Apostle and Angels: A Visible and Invisible History. His books have been translated into twelve languages. A former editor of the Catholic Herald (1988-1992), he writes features for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles, has an interview column in the Tablet and has presented television documentaries including the award-winning Channel 4 series, Catholics and Sex. Raised in Birkenhead, he has been director of the Longford Trust for penal reform since 2002.
