Inigo Jones was an unlikely candidate to change the landscape of British style and design, yet this self–taught son of a cloth worker was to bring classicism to England. His surviving buildings, including the Banqueting House in Whitehall and the Queen’s House at Greenwich, remain testaments to his genius. As well as the King’s Surveyor, Inigo was also a bold traveler, innovative theatrical designer, influential advisor to James I and Charles I, and friend of some of the most famous figures of the day. Yet Inigo was ultimately a victim of his turbulent times. In this major new biography, Michael Leapman paints a vivid portrait of a quarrelsome, inspired, and troubled genius, and of an extraordinary period of English history.