An essential overview as well as a theoretical critique for all students of design history. Walker studies the intellectual discipline of Design History and the issues that confront scholars writing histories of design.

Taking his approach from a range of related fields, he discusses the problems of defining design and writing history. He considers the different methods that leading scholars have used in the absence of a theoretical framework, and looks critically at a number of histories of design and architecture.

About the Author
John A. Walker (1937-2014) was Reader in Art and Design History at Middlesex University. He is the author of Art and Celebrity (Pluto, 2002), Art in the Age of Mass Media (Pluto, 2001), and Cultural Offensive: America's Impact on British Art Since 1945 (Pluto, 1998).

Reviews
'The scope of the book is admirable' -- Times Higher Education
'The best introduction to the critical study of design that I have encountered.' -- Building Design
'The most systematic, the most comprehensive and the most comprehensible account of what design history would like to be ... I would not hesitate to recommend it.' -- Designer's Journal



Book Information
ISBN 9780745305226
Author John A. Walker
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Pluto Press
Publisher Pluto Press
Weight(grams) 331g