Having worked for Historic England and its predecessor organisations for over forty years, Elain Harwood (1958–2023) was an immensely well-respected lecturer, tutor, tour guide, author and latterly, Senior Architectural Investigator. After Elaine's death in 2023, Alistair Fair was invited to come on board as editor of this book, using Elaine's manuscript as the basis of the present text, though with some important changes. Currently a Reader in Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh and a widely published specialist in the history of twentieth-century British architecture, Fair introduces the book in this blogpost, explaining the wider significance of the so-called 'New Towns' and the timeliness of the book's present publication.