{"product_id":"through-the-looking-glasses-9781408712849","title":"Through The Looking Glasses","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Elegant and multi-focal. Glorious!'' Simon Garfield\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe humble pair of glasses might just be one the world''s greatest inventions, allowing millions to see a world that might otherwise appear a blur. And yet how much do many of us even really think about these things perched on the ends of our noses? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this eye-opening history Travis Elborough traces the fascinating true story of spectacles: from their inception as primitive visual aids to monkish scribes right through to today''s designer eyewear and the augmented reality of Google Glass. And taking in along the way such delights as lorgnettes, monocles, pince-nez, tortoise-shell ''Windsors'' and Ray Ban aviator shades. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeering into early theories about how the eye worked, he considers the theological and philosophical arguments about the limits of perception by Greek thinkers, Roman statesmen and Arab scholars. There are encounters with ingenious medieval Italian glassmakers, myopic Renaissance rul\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElegantly framed and multi-focal, this is a gloriously panoptical survey... As a history of restored sight it is instructive, and as a narrative of facial furniture it is fascinating * Simon Garfield *\u003cbr\u003eThis is a thorough, entertaining and thoroughly entertaining history of life through a lens * David Quantick *\u003cbr\u003eIt will make you look at specs with fresh eyes * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eA fascinating journey through the history of eye glasses... a rich and detailed account of technology, fashion, medicine and society... encyclopaedic historical and cultural range, intriguing insights and jocular prose * Hackney Citizen *\u003cbr\u003eFascinating... [An] exuberant history of spectacles and those who wear them -- Victoria Segal * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eElborough is an elegant writer who moves easily between high art, tricky optics and celebrity culture... This is a lively, engaging, admirably wide-ranging history of everything you could possibly want to know about glasses -- Laura Freeman * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e[A] brilliantly enjoyable survey... Elborough brings his own experience as a lifelong myope beautifully to bear on his subject -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eFascinating -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eWitty, enjoyable and illuminating... the sort of book that makes you wonder why nobody has ever written it before... Elborough is an erudite cultural historian -- Andrew Lynch * Business Post *\u003cbr\u003e[An] exhaustive, illuminating celebration of eyewear... Elborough proves to be an endlessly entertaining and informative guide * Islington Tribune *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48739041902935,"sku":"9781408712849","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781408712849.jpg?v=1720050979","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/through-the-looking-glasses-9781408712849","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}