A collection of 100 portraits ranging in time from King Jean II of France (by an anonymous artist) circa 1349 to La Reproduction interdite by René Magritte in 1937. A different portrait for each double page, with a reproduction of the work on the right-hand page and on the left a description of the painting, its sitter and artist, and its historical context and significance. I loved it and learned tons in the process. ( )

Selected from Western European art from the 14th to the 20th century, with a colour reproduction of the painting on the right-hand page and on the left-hand, an essay by an expert. Each individual essay includes a short selection of further reading on the artist, and at the end of the book there are notes on the contributors and a brief guide to reading about portraiture. In his Introduction Martin Bailey acnowledges that the primary aim of the editorial team was to choose images which succeed in arousing interest in the sitter. With one exception, Hilliard's watercolour "Young man among roses", the selection excludes drawings, watercolours and self-portraits. The portraits are displayed chronologically starting with King Jean II of France and ending with a Magritte of Edward James painted in 1937. ( )