This lavish book is a catalog of sorts of 50 years of the best of British art, architecture, and design. Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, in his suitably upbeat forward, notes that "some analysts reckon that Britain's future, in the post-industrial world, may depend on our creativity and visual flair." This book displays the origins of that flair. The essays by noted critics and artists David Sylvester, David Hockney, Melvyn Bragg, and Nick Serota ensure that the artistic and cultural history of mid- and late-20th-century British art is thoroughly covered, but it is the splendidly reproduced pictures that really make this book sing. Psychologically taut Francis Bacon paintings and a politically charged Chris Ofilli canvas are here, along with architecture ranging from 1950s London County Council flats to the Millennium Dome and designs that include David Mellor cutlery and the space-age-looking Dyson vacuum cleaner. In addition, samples of video, photography, advertisements, fashion, and technology (the Apple iMac computer was designed by a Brit) are explored. The impact of television on visual media is appropriately weighted--Bragg points out that the marriage between art and the small screen "is happier than anyone could have dreamed of." All in all, this is a thrilling book that gives British national pride a good name. --Amazon.co.uk