Why is green the colour of envy? Why is black ‘evil’? Why is white pure? Why do we ‘feel blue’ or ‘see red’? Why do colours have different meanings for different cultures?

This book offers a lively, anecdotal treatment of the cultural mysteries of colour, and focuses on the way we respond to colours, the significance we give them – and how these things change over time and from place to place. It tells the story of how we have come to view the world through lenses passed down to us by art, science, politics, fashion, sport and, not least, prejudice.