Art of Play - Wonder by Design

A History of Ideas

A History of Ideas - Main image
$16 $32 In stock

Category: Architecture

This is a history book that takes us from the very beginnings of our species right up to the modern age. We read about the Ancient Greeks and Romans, we learn about Buddhism and Islam, we acquire ideas from Hinduism and the European Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Modernity. Deliberately eclectic, the book gives us a panoramic, 3,000-year view over the finest insights of a diversity of civilizations.

Every idea hangs off an image – it could be a place, a document, a building or a work of art – that has something very specific to teach us. There are ideas here that will stick in our minds because they can help to answer the biggest puzzles we may have: about the direction of our lives, the issues of relationships, the meaning of existence.

Customer Reviews (5.0 / 5 · 5 reviews)

Riley W. ★★★★★

I read it cover to cover over two weekends and still keep flipping back to the sections on Buddhism and Islam, which are explained with more clarity than any lecture I’ve sat through. The way it traces a single thread from our earliest ancestors to the modern age makes the whole arc feel surprisingl

Mia O. ★★★★★

The way it weaves from Ancient Greece straight into Buddhism and Islam in the same narrative flow is surprisingly seamless, and it's dense with ideas without ever feeling like a lecture. I found myself making notes on nearly every page, it’s that kind of book.

Alexander ★★★★★

I was bracing for a dry, academic slog, but the way it jumps from the Ancient Greeks to Buddhism in a single chapter makes it feel genuinely alive. The writing is dense but never dull, and I kept finding myself reading one more page than I planned. Perfect for anyone who loves big-picture history to