Taste: A cultural history of the home interior

Democratic in intention and approach, the book will argue that the home interior, as independently created by the amateur householder, offers a continuous informal critique of shifting architectural styles (most notably with the advent of Modernism) and the design mainstream. Indeed, it will suggest that the popular increasingly exerts an influence on the professional.

Underpinned by academic rigour, but not in thrall to it, above all this book is an engaging attempt to identify the cultural drivers of aesthetic change in the home, extrapolating the wider influence of taste to a broad audience both professional and trade. In so doing, it will explore enthralling territory money, class, power and influence.

Illustrated with contemporary drawings and cartoons as well as photos, the book is not only an absorbing read, but an enticing and attractive object in itself.