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A Degree in a Book
A Degree in a Book: Art History: Everything You Need to Know to Master the Subject in One Book
Spanning from the classical sculpture of Ancient Rome to contemporary performance art, this vibrantly illustrated guide provides a rich overview of art history, covering many topics explored in a history of art degree. Learn to distinguish Impressionism from Post-Impressionism, analyze a painting's brush strokes and discover the influences of Pablo Picasso.
Written by expert art historian John Finlay, A Degree in a Art History is presented in an attractive landscape format in full-color, featuring iconic works of art through the ages. With timelines, feature spreads and information boxes, readers will quickly get to grips with the fundamentals of art and its fascinating evolution across history.
ABOUT THE Get the knowledge of a degree for the price of a book in Arcturus Publishing's A Degree in a Book series. Featuring handy timelines, information boxes, feature spreads and margin annotations, these illustrated books are perfect for anyone wishing to master seemingly complex subject with ease and enjoyment.
Written by expert art historian John Finlay, A Degree in a Art History is presented in an attractive landscape format in full-color, featuring iconic works of art through the ages. With timelines, feature spreads and information boxes, readers will quickly get to grips with the fundamentals of art and its fascinating evolution across history.
ABOUT THE Get the knowledge of a degree for the price of a book in Arcturus Publishing's A Degree in a Book series. Featuring handy timelines, information boxes, feature spreads and margin annotations, these illustrated books are perfect for anyone wishing to master seemingly complex subject with ease and enjoyment.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 29, 2026
Unfortunately, this volume proved to be a considerable disappointment.
While it contains a staggering volume of information—an unrelenting stream of names, dates, artists, movements, and titles—the commentary is executed with such overwhelming superficiality that the factual density rapidly devolves into mere background noise.
A given artwork is introduced, hastily dispatched with a sentence or two of context, and immediately abandoned in favor of the next. On any single page, one encounters three or four disparate works in rapid succession. Consequently, before the mind can process or contemplate a specific piece, the narrative has already moved on. The experience of reading it feels less like a thoughtful curation and more like an exhausted sprint through a museum—glancing at wall labels while barely registering the canvases themselves.
This underscores the fundamental flaw of the text. Rigorous art history must extend beyond a sterile inventory of what was created, by whom, and when. It should articulate why a work endures, illuminate its defining techniques, contextualize its historical moment, and convey why it demands our gaze centuries later. Here, individual works are granted so little narrative breathing room that genuine comprehension remains entirely out of reach.
For readers possessing even a foundational familiarity with art history, the book offers meager original insight. One might walk away with a few memorized dates, names, or institutional locations—useful, perhaps, for superficial recognition or casual conversation—but that remains a far cry from actual artistic literacy.
The subtitle’s grand promise—Everything You Need to Know to Master the Subject in One Book—feels particularly paradoxical. Rather than delivering mastery, the work serves as a cautionary demonstration of the impossibility of encapsulating centuries of artistic evolution through a mechanical catalogue of facts.
To its credit, a few illustrations were captivating, and several pieces provoked enough curiosity to prompt independent research. Paradoxically, those brief exits were the book's most valuable contribution: not providing insight itself, but compelling me to close its covers and seek out scholarship with real depth.
2 out of 5 stars. Not for a lack of information, but because such an abundance of detail is rendered with so little analytical depth that almost nothing truly resonates.
While it contains a staggering volume of information—an unrelenting stream of names, dates, artists, movements, and titles—the commentary is executed with such overwhelming superficiality that the factual density rapidly devolves into mere background noise.
A given artwork is introduced, hastily dispatched with a sentence or two of context, and immediately abandoned in favor of the next. On any single page, one encounters three or four disparate works in rapid succession. Consequently, before the mind can process or contemplate a specific piece, the narrative has already moved on. The experience of reading it feels less like a thoughtful curation and more like an exhausted sprint through a museum—glancing at wall labels while barely registering the canvases themselves.
This underscores the fundamental flaw of the text. Rigorous art history must extend beyond a sterile inventory of what was created, by whom, and when. It should articulate why a work endures, illuminate its defining techniques, contextualize its historical moment, and convey why it demands our gaze centuries later. Here, individual works are granted so little narrative breathing room that genuine comprehension remains entirely out of reach.
For readers possessing even a foundational familiarity with art history, the book offers meager original insight. One might walk away with a few memorized dates, names, or institutional locations—useful, perhaps, for superficial recognition or casual conversation—but that remains a far cry from actual artistic literacy.
The subtitle’s grand promise—Everything You Need to Know to Master the Subject in One Book—feels particularly paradoxical. Rather than delivering mastery, the work serves as a cautionary demonstration of the impossibility of encapsulating centuries of artistic evolution through a mechanical catalogue of facts.
To its credit, a few illustrations were captivating, and several pieces provoked enough curiosity to prompt independent research. Paradoxically, those brief exits were the book's most valuable contribution: not providing insight itself, but compelling me to close its covers and seek out scholarship with real depth.
2 out of 5 stars. Not for a lack of information, but because such an abundance of detail is rendered with so little analytical depth that almost nothing truly resonates.
July 28, 2020
I would give this book a 3.5. I think it was a great overview. I loved how the author gave voice to many theories (like feminist theory), but as one who read this book without an art history background and who wanted to learn more about art, I was frustrated by all the white space in the book. I feel like the large white margins in about 2/3 of the book could have been utilized better to contain definitions, clarifications, or more art. I know there is a glossary but flipping back and forth was frustrating and usually the word I was looking for wasn’t there and required me to use Google. That said, I have a much bigger appreciation for some of history’s best pieces so it was worth the read.
November 29, 2023
Excellent read for those who wish to start off exploring the history of art.
Cubism, expressionist, avant garde and other forms are discussed, with colour photos of key works.
The writing is of an academic nature: I didn't always find it easy to understand but, for the most part,
it's an enjoyable read and always informative.
Cubism, expressionist, avant garde and other forms are discussed, with colour photos of key works.
The writing is of an academic nature: I didn't always find it easy to understand but, for the most part,
it's an enjoyable read and always informative.
December 25, 2024
Good primer on art history
I listened to the book on audible, and have as a reference in Kindle library. Solid, well referenced, well written book on art history, and at a great price. Could it go deeper? Yes. But, thats the point. This gets you started, and contains quite a bit for most. If you want deeper, then, you will need to focus on a movement or an artist. This book is broad. Again, well written, and serves its purpose.
I listened to the book on audible, and have as a reference in Kindle library. Solid, well referenced, well written book on art history, and at a great price. Could it go deeper? Yes. But, thats the point. This gets you started, and contains quite a bit for most. If you want deeper, then, you will need to focus on a movement or an artist. This book is broad. Again, well written, and serves its purpose.
August 2, 2024
3.5 stars
I’ve been wanting to know more about art history and different art styles and movements is a more linear way, since my knowledge so far has been very much random bits I picked up over the years.
I decided to read this as a text book, taking notes as I went, and I think that was a good idea.
The book is informative and goes into the historical, societal and cultural backgrounds of the different movements which I appreciated.
I will say, I don’t think this is 100% beginner friendly though; the structure is not always clear and we don’t always get the defining characteristics of each movement laid out properly. The glossary at the end does a little bit of helping, but I still had to pop over to google a few times to fill in some gaps.
I also wish there was a practical side to it, some exercises, writing prompts, painting analysis that we as readers could do ourselves and then check against the generally accepted academic analysis, etc.
Also, the writing was at time too “high brow academic”, which for a book that is targeted at people of the general public who want to learn about the subject without any prior study can be quite hard. I had some previous knowledge to pull from and still found it hard at times!
It has a lot of good information, but it isn’t very helpful in showing you how to apply it and help you retain it.
I’ve been wanting to know more about art history and different art styles and movements is a more linear way, since my knowledge so far has been very much random bits I picked up over the years.
I decided to read this as a text book, taking notes as I went, and I think that was a good idea.
The book is informative and goes into the historical, societal and cultural backgrounds of the different movements which I appreciated.
I will say, I don’t think this is 100% beginner friendly though; the structure is not always clear and we don’t always get the defining characteristics of each movement laid out properly. The glossary at the end does a little bit of helping, but I still had to pop over to google a few times to fill in some gaps.
I also wish there was a practical side to it, some exercises, writing prompts, painting analysis that we as readers could do ourselves and then check against the generally accepted academic analysis, etc.
Also, the writing was at time too “high brow academic”, which for a book that is targeted at people of the general public who want to learn about the subject without any prior study can be quite hard. I had some previous knowledge to pull from and still found it hard at times!
It has a lot of good information, but it isn’t very helpful in showing you how to apply it and help you retain it.
July 12, 2024
3.75
"The visual analysis of the arts is a subjective, interpretive discipline; so, observing art for oneself is just as valid as the reflections of others."
"Regardless, art's authority, value and 'the quality of its presence is always depreciated' by photography and other methods of replication. Its authenticity, or 'aura', is interfered with and threatened."
"Alexander Pope advocated that not all great works of art can be explained by rules."
"Jean-Baptiste Dubos declared in 1719 that painting touches us profoundly since it works through the senses, and 'acts upon us directly through the organ of sight; and... the pleasure we derive from art is physical pleasure.'"
"'In a work of art, "form" cannot be divorced from "content": the distribution of colour and lines, light and shade, volumes and planes, however delightful as a spectacle, must also be understood as carrying a more-than-visual meaning.'"
"The visual analysis of the arts is a subjective, interpretive discipline; so, observing art for oneself is just as valid as the reflections of others."
"Regardless, art's authority, value and 'the quality of its presence is always depreciated' by photography and other methods of replication. Its authenticity, or 'aura', is interfered with and threatened."
"Alexander Pope advocated that not all great works of art can be explained by rules."
"Jean-Baptiste Dubos declared in 1719 that painting touches us profoundly since it works through the senses, and 'acts upon us directly through the organ of sight; and... the pleasure we derive from art is physical pleasure.'"
"'In a work of art, "form" cannot be divorced from "content": the distribution of colour and lines, light and shade, volumes and planes, however delightful as a spectacle, must also be understood as carrying a more-than-visual meaning.'"
March 5, 2021
I found this book really informative, and fascinating. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars, was that I thought that the book did not really go into early art history as much as it did more modern art history. It felt like there was a jump from prehistoric to renaissance. I just wish there was a little bit more information on that jumped period in time.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews