Cathedral (1973)

David Macaulay's first book, from 1973, and still the clearest account of how medieval builders raised a Gothic cathedral without modern machines. The pen-and-ink drawings follow one imagined thirteenth-century cathedral in the invented town of Chutreaux from planning to completion, so each stage of the build appears in the order it had to happen, and the reason for every buttress becomes obvious. The method closely matches how real Gothic cathedrals went up, even if the timeline is tidied. It earned a Caldecott Honor and suits anyone who has stood in a cathedral and wondered how the roof stays up.