World History of Design Volumes 1 and 2, by Victor Margolin

Abstract

Victor Margolin is a Professor Emeritus of Design History at the University of Illinois, Chicago and is widely known around the world for his writings, keynote addresses, and role as founding editor and now co-editor of Design Issues, published by MIT. He has also been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Cumulus and the Design Research Society, and is the author of numerous books on various aspects of design and design history. As a consequence, many design historians have long awaited the publication of the first two volumes of Margolin’s World History of Design (WHD), devoted respectively to “Prehistoric Times to World War I” (nineteen chapters) and “World War I to World War II” (eighteen chapters), two-thirds of a set that will be completed by a third volume devoted to post-1945 design that is intended to be published during 2016. There seems to be something of a minor vogue for design history books that seek to address considerable time periods of design activity, Professor Jonathan M. Woodham has been involved in research and publication of design history for forty years. He has delivered keynotes in twenty-five countries and five continents. His most widely read book is Twentieth Century Design (1997), published by Oxford University Press, with worldwide sales of 50,000. He is also author of the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Design (2005), now part of Oxford Reference Online, with significant update and new content in 2016. J.M.Woodham@brighton.ac.uk