尼古拉斯•佩夫斯纳（1902—1983）是20世纪最著名的艺术和建筑史学家。1902年他生于德国，在莱比锡[Leipzig]接受教育，1924年获艺术和建筑史博士学位，先后与莱比锡、慕尼黑、柏林和法兰克福有过联系。他曾在德累斯顿美术馆任职5年，1929—1933年在哥廷根大学任讲师，同时专攻英国艺术史；1935年移居英国，曾任伦敦大学伯克贝克学院艺术史教授，1949—1955年任剑桥圣约翰学院斯莱德教授和董事。

自《企鹅艺术建筑史丛书》创刊以来，他就任编辑。他还任共卷四十六的《英国建筑》编辑，并按郡的顺序撰写了其中三十八卷。他是英国建筑师协会皇家金奖获得者，是莱斯特、约克、利兹以及牛津大学的荣誉博士获得者，还是圣约翰学院荣誉董事、《建筑评论》编辑部理事。

他的著作《矫饰主义和巴洛克风格的意大利绘画》[Italian Painting of Mannerism and Baroque]被认为是一部经典之作，另有《英国工业艺术探索》[An Inquiry into Industrial Art in England]、《德国巴洛克风格雕塑》[German Baroque Sculpture]、《维多利亚盛期风格设计》[High Victorian Design]、《现代艺术的源泉》[Sources of Modern Art]、《英国美术的英国性》[The Englishness of English Art]（雷斯讲座，1955年）以及《现代设计的先驱者》[Pioneers of Modern Design]等著作。最后两部著作由企鹅出版社出版。同时他也是《企鹅建筑学词典》的合著者之一，为普及大众美术史做出了杰出的贡献。

One of the most widely read boks on European architecture, Nikolaus Pevsner’s landmark work was first published in 1942. Through several revisions and updates during Pevsner’s lifetime, it continued to be a seminal essay on the subject, and even after his death, it remains as stimulating as it was back in the mid-twentieth century.

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902–1983) was one of the twentieth century’s most learned and stimulating writers on art and architecture. He established his reputation with Pioneers of Modern Design, though he is probably best known for his celebrated series of guides, The Buildings of England, acknowledged as one of the great achievements of twentieth-century scholarship. He was also founding editor of The Pelican History of Art, the most comprehensive and scholarly history of art ever published in English.

A revised and updated full-color edition of the classic study of the history of European architecture