Furniture: A Concise History (World of Art)

I liked the fact that this is a well-thought synopsis of why we have furniture and the functional as well as aesthetic values of pieces we use. It is not a history of antiques. It is not inclusively encyclopedic. It is an excellent summary and the best book I have read on this subject in terms of information density (useful knowledge per page).

Nice book

Love the conciseness of this book. The text and photos are informative. And the size of the book is perfect.

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.

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.

The book would be a great an not just good book if sometimes it didn't seem as if it assumes the reader is already familiar with some of the design an d furniture jargon. Considering the lack of visuals of some of the described characteristics of the furniture pieces it made it harder to visualize some things.other than that it was definitely informative and it made me see the value in pieces I hadn't previously considered.

I did not receive the updated version of this book as the photograph of the book indicated. I have to have this for a class, and it is mostly complete, but there is a decade of missing info.

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.

Got this to help with upholstery diploma as its on the reading list. It arrived on time and in reasonable condition. It doesn't look as thorough as I'd hoped but otherwise happy with it.

Im studying re Antique furniture...this history gives so much more inffo for anyone doing same ..or just for interest ...and easy reading. Welll explained. Glad i bought it.

Thank you. It is better.

Thank You, as described.

The book itself is not in good condition. I found the content out of date and not clear. I have not yet begun to read this book in detail. i am looking to read this book to research the subject for my interior design project. Looking forward to absorbing the information. Some of the illustrations could have been a little bigger.