'This lavishly illustrated compendium suggest that the age of elegance endures' Mail on Sunday

The great houses of London represent one of the marvels of English architecture and yet they are almost entirely unknown. They are for the most part disguised behind sober facades but their riches within are astonishing.

There are many architectural wonders, among them Robert Adam's 20 St James's Square and William Burges's Tower House. Several - including Bridgewater House with its Raphaels and Titians - have held great art collections.

These are houses that hold extraordinary stories: half the Cabinet resigned after breakfast at Stratford House; and on 4 August 1914, at 9 Carlton House Terrace, then the German Embassy, young duty clerk Harold Nicholson deftly substituted one declaration of war for another.

Great Houses of London opens the door to some of the greatest and grandest houses in the world to tell the stories of their owners and occupants, artists and architects, their restoration, adaptation and change.

During a photographic career that has spanned over 35 years, FRITZ VON DER SCHULENBURG has achieved international acclaim. His photographs have been published in numerous interior design and architectural magazines, including The World of Interiors, House & Garden and Architectural Digest. He has also published several volumes of his own work. These include: Neoclassicism in the North, The English Garden Room, Romantic Scotland, Empire, and Living by Design.

JAMES STOURTON, formerly chairman of Sotheby's UK, is now working full-time on the authorised biography of Kenneth Clark. His previous books include Great Collectors of our Time: Art Collecting since 1945 and The British as Collectors: A History of British Art Collecting from the Tudors to the Present. He writes regularly for various national papers and magazines.

The Houses:

Lambeth Palace; Ashburnham House; Marlborough House; 4 Cheyne Walk; 44 Berkeley Square; 1 Greek Street (House of St Barnabas); Wimborne House; 10 Downing Street ; 3 Grafton Street; Spencer House; 106 Piccadilly; 20 St James's Square; Home House; Mansion House; Dover House; Apsley House, No. 1 London; Stratford House; Soane Museum; Regent's Park houses; Seaford House; 4 Grosvenor Square (Italian Embassy); Lancaster House; Bridgewater House; Kensington Palace Gardens; Speaker's House; Leighton House; 18 Stafford Terrace; Astor House; 4 St James's Square; Tower House; Debenham House; Emery Walker's House; 46 Grosvenor Street; 54 Mount Street (Brazilian Embassy); 64 Old Church Street (Hamlyns); 2 Willow Road (Erno Goldfinger); St Leonard's Terrace (Richard Rogers); 6-9 Carlton House Terrace (Royal Society); Spitalfields; Malplaquet House