Pottery is one of the oldest and most widespread arts practised by humankind and its history can be traced back to the Stone Age. Changes in styles and types occurred in response to changing social, economic and technical demands, so that vessels and other objects made in clay can reveal much about the societies in which they were produced. This highly illustrated and readable account begins with the early civilizations of the Near and Middle East and traces the production of ceramics throughout the cultures of the globe, from the Mediterranean and the Orient to Islam and ancient America, from neolithic Britain to Wedgwood and de Morgan, from twentieth-century Africa and India to Scandinavia and Australasia, with a final chapter on the newest work of studio potters today. The illustrations, drawn from museums, collectors and practising potters around the world, provide representative examples of the major styles, materials and forms of all periods, allowing the reader to make comparisons and see relationships between the works of cultures which may be widely separated in space and time.