Customer Reviews

Furniture: A Concise History (World of Art)

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Lucie-Smith addresses more than just stylistic developments in this book. He makes it easy to understand furniture history as it relates to social and political developments over time. For example, the advent of the printing press had a strong impact on furniture design in the 16th century. Of course! This all makes perfect sense now. Lucie-Smith's book is a great primer for those interested in furniture history.

I bought this book as a short refresher course of my furniture history knowledge learned in college. It did provide that refresher but I found it lacking somewhat.

Despite being initially published in 1985, the book largely stops at mid-century modern (mid-50s/60s). Even the mid-century history is scant compared to earlier eras.

This is a well written and engaging book about the history of furniture from the Egyptian civilization to the present. It is full of examples and great photographs and emphasizes the meaning of furniture within the context of the society and the psychology of the individual.

Edward Lucie-Smith wrote so many books that I would be surprised he remembers this one. Every body needs to start a passion with a guide. This might be your choice. You will choose the directions you want to explore and will buy more recent and more specialised books afterwards.