Embroidery: A History

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I was not expecting a lot when I picked up this book. I figured it would be just another history of embroidery. I am happy to say that I was mistaken. Yes, it is a history book but from the English perspective. There is a good deal of information about ecclesiastical embroidery in general as well Opus Anglicanum specifically. There is also an entire chapter devoted to the influence on embroidery of the Arts and Crafts Movement. What else I really like about this book are the little extras: diagrams and sketches used to illustrate many of the included examples; a detailed timeline relating events in history with embroidery and the monarchs/personalities of the time and mini biographies of various techniques, schools and societies along with the “movers and shakers” in the embroidery world. As Pamela Warner explains in her introduction, “this book has been written to provide a concise, non-academic and easy-to-read historical background for students and all who are interested in embroidery.” To her I would say “job well done.”