Glass

Whitehouse (senior scholar, Corning Museum of Glass) has compiled an informative history of the creation and use of glass. People have been making glass for over 4000 years, and Whitehouse traces its history from its rough beginnings to the discovery of glassblowing to its rise as an art form. The text is beautifully illustrated with 130 color images of glass from ancient to modern times, drawn from the British Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass collections. Previous works, such as Alan Macfarlane and Gerry Martin's Glass: A World History, focus on the cultural impact of glass and glassmaking; this book traces glassmaking from its beginnings to the present, touching on its global spread in the first century B.C.E. and centuries of innovations in craft and changes in style. A glossary and index complete this well-thought-out book.