The Secret Lives of Colour

Kassia St Clair

6 Reviews

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Fashion & textiles: design, Prose: non-fiction, Social & cultural history, Pigments, dyestuffs & paint technology

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John Murray
- Paperback Sep 11, 2018 | 9781473630833 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Hardback Oct 25, 2016 | 9781473630819 | RRP $45.00 Buy Now
- Audiobook Apr 9, 2020 | 9781529336504 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Oct 20, 2016 | 9781473630826 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
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Imprint

John Murray
- Paperback Sep 11, 2018 | 9781473630833 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Hardback Oct 25, 2016 | 9781473630819 | RRP $45.00 Buy Now
- Audiobook Apr 9, 2020 | 9781529336504 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Oct 20, 2016 | 9781473630826 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
Play Sample
0:00
Imprint

John Murray
- Paperback Sep 11, 2018 | 9781473630833 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Hardback Oct 25, 2016 | 9781473630819 | RRP $45.00 Buy Now
- Audiobook Apr 9, 2020 | 9781529336504 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Oct 20, 2016 | 9781473630826 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
Play Sample
0:00
Imprint

John Murray
- Paperback Sep 11, 2018 | 9781473630833 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Hardback Oct 25, 2016 | 9781473630819 | RRP $45.00 Buy Now
- Audiobook Apr 9, 2020 | 9781529336504 | RRP $35.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Oct 20, 2016 | 9781473630826 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
Play Sample
0:00

The unforgettable history of colours and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-coloured volume

'A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer.'
Simon Garfield

THE SECRET LIVES OF COLOUR tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso's blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history. In this book Kassia St Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilisation. Across fashion and politics, art and war, THE SECRET LIVES OF COLOUR tell the vivid story of our culture.

Praise for The Secret Lives of Colour

A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer
- SIMON GARFIELD
Charming - FINANCIAL TIMES
From pink boys' clothes to blue warpaint; why orange spells danger and other colourful tales - DAILY TELEGRAPH
Inspiring, compelling and beautifully designed . . . this will appeal to anyone - LADY
Well-researched and engaging - House & Garden

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Kassia St Clair

Kassia St Clair studied the history of women's dress and the masquerade during the eighteenth century at Bristol and Oxford. She has since written about design and culture for the Economist, House & Garden, TLS, Quartz and New Statesman, and has had a column about colour in Elle Decoration since 2013. Her first book The Secret Lives of Colour was a top-ten bestseller, a Radio 4 Book of the Week and has been translated into over a dozen languages; her second, The Golden Thread, was a Sunday Times Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Somerset Maugham Award. She lives in London.