The Secret Lives of Colour: Kassia St Clair

I was drawn to this book in a bookshop by its striking cover. I loved the samples of the various colours throughout the book and the general presentation of the volume but wondered if I could really justify the expense - or the space on already full bookshelves. Can you imagine my delight when I discovered that the title was available on Kindle Unlimited?I chose to read the book in page order to avoid missing out any of the shades and was soon fascinated. I loved not knowing what aspect of a shade would be covered in its short chapter; would it be how the natural ingredient was processed, a new dye invented or some other historical facts about that particular nuance of the colour in question? The variety was part of the excitement. I was regularly clicking on the links to see a sample of a shade when it was mentioned the general introduction to that colour, checking footnotes and scouring the biography for further reading.The Kindle edition has the advantage of your being able to find the shade you want instantaneously, but the physical book itself is so appealing with its full pages of colour that, in spite of having read it for free, I shall almost certainly buy the book. Five full glowing stars

I bought this book for my mum as a Christmas present. She loved it. On her recommendation,On her recommendation, I gave it a read. I'm a marketer and web designer on the side, and it's a brilliant companion to the scientific heavy side of colour theory. Cassia St Claire brings the story of colour to life with wonderful vigour. Pretty cover too!

Very entertaining, but I expected to be more educational.

Enjoyable book and nice read. Neat size and attractive cover. I found this book interesting and a good general book.

This book is an ideal gift for anyone interested in arts & crafts, especially writers and visual artists. It is easy to dip into and every chapter contains beautifully written gems of interest. Would also be great for quiz complilers or secondary school children and students.

Interesting read would recommend

What a lovely book. Must have taken ages to research and really well written and laid out. I had ordered this book a few days before it was highlighted in the Daily Mail books of the week and so got it at a very good price as once it was recommended, the price jumped a lot. Took a few weeks to arrive due to selling out but I still got it cheap. A book which will become a staple 'go to' book for looking at shades of all colours. Excellent work from the author. I would suggest people buy the hard back book and not the Kindle one as it's a beautiful book in it's own right and the cover is so tactile.

The book description made it sound like an interesting look at where colours come from but actually it has lots of small text, hard to get into and not that interesting. Looks pretty for a coffee table book though.

This book is the jam. It is a delightfully read, and one that you can pick up any time and on any random page. Threanecdotes within are illuminating and insightful. The book is playful and has the ability to transform the way you see some of your surroundings, if you let it. A definite recommend for history lovers that have a creative bone. It's an easy read and a thoroughly amusing one.

Loved book and bought as gift. Strips of colour along edges of pages are gorgeous. Fascinating history of colour with lots of engaging trivia.

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O livro tem um conteúdo impecável, a história das cores é incrivel e mt bem pesquisada. O que me entristece é a falta de cuidado no manejo por parte da transportadora e da amazon, além de pequenas falhas no refile. Pedi o livro pela primeira vez e veio com muitos amassos na ponta, pedi uma troca e foi feita com muita facilidade. Recebi a troca hoje, o livro veio com a capa suja e alguns amassos (menores dessa vez), acredito que seja algum problema no estoque e no transporte, já que o livro não tem nenhuma película protetora. Felizmente consegui limpar a capa com álcool e algodão, mas para um livro neste valor esperava um pouco mais de cuidado com a encomenda ☹️

A fascinating, informative, and interesting book. I highly recommend it.