In this fully illustrated book, Phoebe Stanton explores the influence of the English ecclesiological Gothic revival on American church architecture in the mid-19th century, arguing that this fundamentally conservative movement provided a foundation for a new aesthetic in American architecture. Although the Gothic revival had already made a modest beginning in the United States, an understanding of English theory and English models were prerequisites to American development of the Gothic style. Examining the theoretical expression of English revivalism in the writings of the movement's leading proponents as well as a variety of influential buildings themselves, Stanton offers a comprehensive survey of the architectural principles and models that were most influential in America.