On the occasion of the publication of Modern Architecture: Romanticism and Reintegration’s first Spanish edition. This essay aims to discuss the impact of Henry- Russell Hitchcock’s book –published in 1929– on the history of architecture. In spite of being the first history of modern architecture written in English, Modern Architecture fell into oblivion due to the success of Hitchcock’s subsequent book, coauthored with Philip Johnson: The International Style: Architecture since 1922. Discussing the critical approaches to the text –from the first book reviews to the latest historiographical studies– brings to light Hitchcock’s contribution to the historiography of modern architecture.
A historical legacy: Henry-Russell Hitchcock and early Modernism