John Peacock charts the development of every kind and style of footwear from earliest times to the present day, for both men and women. His drawings reproduce in meticulous detail a host of representative examples from every era: the simple sandals of Ancient Egypt, made from natural fibers; exquisite Greek footwear of the "Golden Age," including boots made from rawhide with leather linings and leg bindings; richly embroidered and bejeweled shoes of the Byzantine empire; the fantastic pike-toed boots newly fashionable in the fourteenth century; the hugely exaggerated platform heels of the sixteenth century; eighteenth-century women's slippers of the finest silk; and a huge range of contemporary shoes, from sneakers and stilettos to the latest footwear in radical materials and experimental styles.<br /><br />The pictures are arranged in six chronological sections and accompanied by full descriptions, including details of materials, heel and toe styles, decorations, and fastenings. An invaluable reference section includes a time chart summarizing the development of shoes throughout the centuries, a concise bibliography, and biographies and histories of the world's leading shoe designers and manufacturers, including Manolo Blahnik, Salvatore Ferragamo, Charles Jourdan, Roger Vivier, and Vivienne Westwood.<br /><br />This encyclopedic survey, with its colorful and detailed illustrations, will become the unrivaled reference work in its field, indispensable to any shoe enthusiast, designer, or collector.