William Braham writes that this book has been conceived as a genealogy of modern architectural colour, explaining that he uses the term ‘genealogy’ in the (Deleuzean) sense of it automatically bringing one to an understanding of the distance travelled since the particular origins under research. Such an analysis is useful to Braham who wants to bring to the practising architect an informed view of the use of colour in architecture by investigating the discussions that have surrounded it since the 1830s.