Colour is all around us; we take it for granted as a naturally occurring aspect of all things. Yet colours are also manufactured, and the science of pigments, hues and dyes has an ancient and fascinating history. From the 40,000-years-old painted caves at Lascaux to the medieval cloth trade that enriched Europe to the synthetic chemistry of today, this book surveys the history of dyes and pigments, the invention of new colours and the industries that were fuelled by them.