The first narrative exploration of humans' extraordinary relationship with color, and the history of its meanings, associations, and properties that span cultures, continents, and languages.

In The World According to Color, James Fox takes seven primary colors—black, red, yellow, blue, white, purple, and green—and uncovers behind each a root idea, based on visual resemblances and common symbolism throughout history. Through a series of stories and vignettes, the book traces these meanings to show how they changed and multiplied and, ultimately, how they reveal a great deal about the societies that produced them: reflecting and shaping their hopes, fears, prejudices, and preoccupations. Hardcover, 320 pages.