How long does it take to read Blue?
The History of a Color.
Blue by Michel Pastoureau takes about 3 hours 58 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 3 hours 58 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2001. 216 pages, about 59,400 words.
8 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 6 hours 36 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 3 hours 58 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 29 minutes |
The page count is the median across 2 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
"Blue has had a long and topsy-turvy history in the Western world. Once considered a hot color, it is now icy cool. The ancient Greeks scorned it as ugly and barbaric, but most Americans and Europeans now pick it as their favorite color. In this history, the renowned medievalist Michel Pastoureau traces the changing meanings of blue from its rare appearances in prehistoric art to its international ubiquity today in blue jeans and Gauloises cigarette packs." "Pastoureau investigates how the ever-changing role of blue in society has been reflected in manuscripts, stained glass, heraldry, clothing, paintings, and popular culture. Beginning with the almost total absence of blue from ancient Western art and language, the story moves to medieval Europe. As people began to associate blue with the Virgin Mary, the color became a powerful element in church decoration and symbolism, despite the resistance of chromophobic prelates. Blue gained new favor as a royal color in the twelfth century and became a formidable political and military force through the French Revolution. As blue triumphed in the modern era, new shades were created and blue became the color of romance, the Romantics, and the blues. Finally, Pastoureau follows blue into contemporary times, when military clothing gave way to the everyday uniform of blue jeans and blue became the universal and unifying color of the Earth as seen from space." "With an elegant design and illustrated with nearly one hundred color plates, Blue tells the history of our favorite color and the cultures that have hated it, loved it, and created great art with it."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: Blue, Color, Psychological aspects of Color, Social aspects of Color, Blue in art, Symbolism of colors
