Martin Hammond was an architectural technician in Poole, Dorset. He was a member of the British Brick Society, which studied the history of bricks and brickmaking. He collected old bricks and made wood-fire bricks and tiles. He advised on restoration work at Baumber Brickyard, Lincolnshire, and Powerstock Common, Dorset. He wrote an article on the development of brick kilns for 'Industrial Archaeology Review'.

Bricks were introduced to Britain by the Romans and reintroduced by Flemish craftsmen in the middle ages. Until the early nineteenth century they were made in numerous small brickyards supplying local needs, but eventually increasing demand led to the invention of improved brickmaking machines and kilns. This book gives an insight into the surprising variety of bricks, as well as a brief history of brickmaking, descriptions of hand and machine moulding, drying, the use of kilns and firing. Despite competition from newer materials, brick still holds its own as a facing material and traditional methods still survive in the smaller yards.