This book is more of a hop or jump through the history of footwear than a walk. Lawlor groups her information by the type or purpose of the shoe, and while this allows for sharing interesting facts and anecdotes about shoes, I'd really been hoping for more of a chronological exploration of the subject. How and why did footwear evolve in different civilizations? If I were to drop into 9th century China or Peru in B.C. 600, what would everyone be wearing? While I have a better understanding of some of the roles shoes have played at moments in their history, my grasp of the whole of that history is still shaky at best.