Furniture: A Concise History

Great historical reading for anyone interested in the early BC creation of function and form of furniture to post-modern. There's a lot of meaty information but I feel it is presented in an easy to understand way. This book is a little dated-- here and there the author offers his predictions of future trends--which end in 1980's, depriving us of updates! Oh well! There's plenty of Contemporary books to delve into! The author describes society of the era, what was important to people-- more so than the craftsmanship. Think of all that history has shown: war, trade with other countries, empire rise and fall, the industrial revolution, kings of opulence This book is intended to weave our history as humans into the furniture that defined us. I was fascinated by this book. It gave me a different way of "seeing" the decorative arts.

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.