Indigo : In Search of the Color That Seduced the World

English

ISBN: 1608195058

EAN: 9781608195053

Category: Crafts & Hobbies / Dye/Design / Textile & Costume/Design / Fashion/History / Africa / General/

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Release Date: 05/10/2011

Synopsis: For almost five millennia, in every culture and in every major religion, indigoa blue pigment obtained from the small green leaf of a parasitic shrub through a complex process that even scientists still regard as mysterioushas been at the center of turbulent human encounters.Indigois the story of this precious dye and its ancient heritage: its relationship to slavery as the hidden half of the transatlantic slave trade, its profound influence on fashion, and its spiritual significance, which is little recognized but no less alive today. It is an untold story, brimming with rich, electrifying tales of those who shaped the course of colonial history and a world economy.ButIndigois also the story of a personal quest: Catherine McKinley is the descendant of a clan of Scots who wore indigo tartan as their virile armor; the kin of several generations of Jewish rag traders; the maternal granddaughter of a Massachusetts textile factory owner; and the paternal granddaughter of African slavesher ancestors were traded along the same Saharan routes as indigo, where a length of blue cotton could purchase human life. McKinleys journey in search of beauty and her own history ultimately leads her to a new and satisfying path, to finally taste life. With its four-color photo insert and sumptuous design,Indigowill be as irresistible to look at as it is to read.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Indigo : In Search of the Color That Seduced the World

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Hardcover

Height: 1.02 inches

Width: 5.82 inches

Length: 8.56 inches

Weight: 13.16 oz

Pages: 256