From chopines to stilettos Louis XIV to Louboutin Shoes: An Illustrated History is the definitive guide to footwear. Shoes have always been more than just a practical necessity. They reveal the culture of the times in which they were worn - the sexual morals the social power play as well as the endless shifting of fashion. Rebecca Shawcross takes the reader on a fascinating journey - packed with social and historical detail - of making and wearing of the spectacular and the everyday of conforming and rebelling. Lavishly illustrated with a dazzling array of shoes from all over the world Shoes: An Illustrated History tells the extraordinary story of this ultimate object of desire from antiquity to the present.