The works marked with an asterisk* are indispensable.
Alexander, Jonathan, and Binski, Paul (editors). Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200–1400. Royal Academy of Arts, 1987.
Binski, Paul. Becket’s Crown: Art and Imagination in Gothic England, 1170–1300. Yale University Press, 2004. Explains the intellectual and imaginative mindset underlying the artistic achievements of the era.
Bony, Jean. The English Decorated Style. Phaidon, 1979. Out of print, but an essential discussion.
Cannon, Jon. Cathedral: The Great English Cathedrals and the World that Made Them. Constable, 2007. Places these great churches in their context.
Coldstream, Nicola. The Decorated Style. British Museum Press, 1994.
Draper, Peter. The Formation of English Gothic. Yale University Press, 2006. Up-to-date discussion of Early English.
Fernie, Eric. The Architecture of Norman England. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Harvey, John. The Perpendicular Style. Batsford, 1978. Out of print, but the most recent detailed analysis of this style.
Jenkins, Simon. A Thousand Best Churches. Penguin, 1999.
Looking at Buildings (http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/index.html)
Marks, Richard, and Williamson, Paul (editors). Gothic: Art for England, 1400–1547. Victoria and Albert Museum, 2003.
Morris, Richard. Churches in the Landscape, Phoenix, 1990 edition. For an archaeological ‘landscape’ perspective.
*Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus, and others. Buildings of England county guides (and, latterly, city guides). Yale University Press, various dates.
*Rodwell, Warwick. The Archaeology of the English Church. Alan Sutton, revised edition 2012.
Taylor, H. M., and Taylor, Joan. Anglo-Saxon Architecture (three volumes). Cambridge University Press, 1965 onwards. Out of print, but an essential discussion.
Webb, Geoffrey Architecture in Britain: The Middle Ages Penguin (Pelican History of Art,) 1956. Out of print, and out of date in some details, but still an essential overview.
*Wilson, Christopher. The Gothic Cathedral. Yale University Press, 1992. A defining, Europe-wide overview of architectural development, revealing much about how masons developed and analysed detail.