Small, smart, essential – an easy-to-read, straightforward and entertaining introduction to art history via fifty pivotal moments from antiquity to the 21st century.

‘Splendid … a tour de force … Its lucid prose, evocative illustrations and handsome production make it a joy to read and savour’ Times Higher Education

An essential guide to the multifarious and increasingly connected world of global art from 1900 to today.

From the 40000-years-old painted caves at Lascaux and the medieval cloth trade to the synthetic chemistry of modern times, colour making has been central to our lives. This book surveys the history of dyes and pigments, the invention of new colours, and the industries that fuelled them.

* 'Great art has dreadful manners...' Simon Schama observes at the start of his epic exploration of the power, and whole point, of art. 'The hushed reverence of the gallery can fool you into believing masterpieces are polite things, visions that soothe, charm and beguile, but actually they are thugs. Merciless and wily, the greatest paintings grab you in a headlock, rough up your composure and then proceed in short order to re-arrange your sense of reality...' * With the same disarming force,...

A beautifully history of imaginary animals from Palaeolithic art to Harry Potter.