Reviews for Britain: Society, Economy and Industrial Relations, 1900-39 (Access to History Series)) - Ro...

The average rating for Britain: Society, Economy and Industrial Relations, 1900-39 (Access to History Series)) - Ro... based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-12-29 00:00:00 Chad Rackel This was a perfect companion to Bland’s book, it was Lavishly illustrated (though the majority were black and white reproductions) and focused more on the style of the developments rather than the techniques. It gave more of a background to the use of books, and their social history, and how they fit into the wider European cultural context. It started with a lovely double illustration of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, followed by some Egyptian porn! (Before descending into the religious books produced during the middle ages). It looked at development and movements throughout Europe, comparing different countries in different periods. The last section on the Book Beautiful I found most enjoyable, perhaps this ties into reading so much William Morris lately. But it did make me laugh when it referred to Chipping Camden, as a “Delightful little limestone costswold town”as it was one of the villages that went to my high school, and “delightful” is not a word I’d use to describe it as we went through it every day! It also helped me discover two new artists, the first was the illustrator for Oscar Wilde’s Sphinx, Charles Ricketts and the next was an absolutely gorgeous illustration by Kay Nielsen which a quick internet search later revealed that Nielsen in fact did MANY gorgeous illustrations and I must find out more about him. It was a very good book, references wise and fun to just sit and read the whole way thought. We have a reference copy in our reading room but I may break down and buy my own anyway as it seems to only be about £14 on amazon.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-09-22 00:00:00 Scott Olson This is an extremely informative overview of illustration, and (very helpfully) doesn't stint on reproductions, providing an example for almost every illustrator mentioned. It covers European and North American illustration, although the later chapters seem to focus more on English and American movements. The book is helpfully arranged chronologically, but with some small sections on various themes or how one book was illustrated across time, countries, or movements, and these discussions provide connectivity among the other sections. In addition, an excellent bibliography and short descriptions of different printmaking processes are provided at the end of the volume. In addition to its obvious scholarly expertise, the book is extremely well written and a pleasure to read.