The Secret Lives of Colour: RADIO 4's BOOK OF THE WEEK

This book is addictive, I keep dipping back in. Very well researched and utterly fascinating, buy it for anyone who loves the stories that make the everyday world around us so beautiful and infinitely interesting.

It was a very eye-opening read about the life and journey of colours, as well as humanity’s relationship with colours through art and everyday life.

Beautifully produced volume with interesting facts about a wide variety of colours familiar to artists. A pleasure to read. Great to dip into but also as a reference book A lovely present for anyone interested in the creative arts.

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!

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.

An enjoyable book to both read and look through.

I enjoyed some of the facts in this book but I would have liked to have seen more reference to current culture. It would have been useful to see pictures of the paintings that had been referred to.