This art history book loos at British Art from a different angle than many books. It looks at the art within the context of history and influence. Many well known artists are included but some lesser known artist are also showcased. I really enjoyed reading it. The book is well written and easy to read despite the dense subject. Anyone with an interest in British art and history will enjoy this book. It would make a wonderful gift.

Sensations tells the history of Britain through its art. It covers approximately 400 years of art history and analyses various artworks looking at how they reflected the social and political climate of their time, along with how they represented progress in science and industry. Starting off with the Enlightenment and the philosophy of Locke, it covers a variety of topics and artists such as Hogarth and his engravings steeped in moral panics, the effect of the First World War on British art, right through to the involvement of Saatchi and the 'Young British Artists' in the 1990s and how that transformed the art landscape.

For someone who is not well versed in art history, I have to admit I was slightly intimidated by this book at the beginning. However, I found myself absolutely engrossed in it - it was well-paced and easy to read and I learnt a lot of interesting new facts. I may have discovered a newfound interest in art history! Thank you to Laurence King for this free copy in exchange for an honest review (and particularly for sending me a physical copy when my ebook didn't work!). I loved it.

As a passionate art lover and British art, in particular, this looked to be an excellent, information-rich text featuring some of the most remarkable British authors from right across the spectrum. However, I would say that it's almost essential to have a knowledge of British and wider European history in order to properly understand the context of some of the pieces. This is a book that is very thorough but ultimately its success is dependent on subjective views on who should/should not have been included, so it may be worth checking out the artists featured before purchasing to make sure it suits your tastes.

It explores their works in terms of the cultural, political, societal, philosophical and scientific ideas around at the time of creation which gives a completely different insight into these pieces, and the accompanying illustrations are simply stunning. It is full of thorough history and analysis which goes beyond the norm and makes this is a fascinating read. Recommended to art connoisseurs or those wanting to know more about the inspiration and background of certain iconic British pieces.

This is an interesting and wonderfully illustrated book, but it is extremely restricted to the areas and artists the author thought were of interest. I was a bit disappointed that more artists were not included. I think it is fair to say it tightly follows particular threads and connections the author has identified, but it is full of history and interesting information within these areas. I enjoyed the book but expected to see much more of the greats and for it to have a wider feel for the rich history of british art. Overall a good book best suited to art buffs.

This is a very interesting book that treats some arguments and through the artworks of British artists tells us some interesting facts and stories in various time periods. A good knowledge of British and European history is recommended in order to appreciate the very informative and rich text. What I did not like is the choice of the artists included. Beginning with the very discutable art of Hirst, the sickening paintings of Bacon and the very overrated Hockney (any serious art student can paint like that and better). OK for Hogarth, Lucian Freud, William Blake, Turner and others, but why have you not included painters like Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema or Lord Frederic Leighton for example and some more paintings from the pre-Raphaelites. From the cover I expected more of the astonishing artworks of realist painters and especially more portraits like those in the National Portrait Gallery. It seems to me that the preference went to dramatic, satyrical, shocking or in some cases actually ugly artworks. Is beauty boring?