Book Review: The Story of Colour in Textiles

My first impressions were, this is a bit dull... certainly wouldn't grab this off the shelf.  Odd for a book on colour, but then I realised it was MY thinking, I was expected bright modern candy colours on a cover, not the subtle.  It all made sense when opening the book to find the sub heading:

 "Imperial Purple to Denim Blue"

I flicked through the 176 pages, there's a lot of words! Actually its a book crammed to the brim with facts and information. It did seem a bit daunting, where to start?

I decided obvious I'd read the entire book, which I have. Not sure its necessary for a review, but hey, why else do you buy a book, but to look at and read, so I did!
I struggled a bit with the first chapter, because there is so much factual information, dates, names, etc, thought I'll never cope with this, too much to take in.  But I continued, deciding to read rather than trying to retain all the facts as well, and soon found myself itching to read on and find out more.  For me suddenly I had a book of history, with social conventions from royalty to the ordinary man.  Laws and rules, country pitted against country, secrets, it was like reading a mystery novel, what happens next? It became obvious that there is so much to this topic, colour and the producing of it covers multiple aspects, its why the book exists in the first place.  I won't think of "masterpiece" in the same way again.
The book is factual, there is a lot of information, and also colour plates.

At the end of each chapter there is a list of References, which would allow anyone the opportunity for further exploration into the subject.

For anyone who is interested in the history of colour, the how where what and why, I'd certainly say get this book. As some elements re-occur in the book as the timeline progresses,  I'd recommend you do as I did, read it, like a novel, then go back for the facts.

The Story of Colour in Textiles  by  Susan Kay-Williams
ISBN  978-1-4081-3450-4
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc