Luxury: A History

A sweeping history of luxury--from the pharaohs to the plutocrats--celebrating the quintessential role of opulence in human evolution From diamonds to Daimlers, banquets to yachts, a garden planted with porcelain roses, a giraffe gifted to a king, a town presented to a queen, a mantle sewn with 45,000 feathers, verse carved on rubies, a house built of vapor, a cathedral carved of salt, a temple clad in gold, a mansion traded for a strand of pearls, and tea served in a $36 million cup, here is luxury as pleasure, luxury as fabulous, luxury as beyond. In this sweeping new survey, richly illustrated and in full color with over 250 photographs, Jill Spalding, former Vogue editor and author of Only the Best, tracks the world's greatest luxuries and humankind's eternal quest for the rare, the best, and the over-the-top.