An ongoing interest in oriental hand made rugs (I have four) and recently being employed by Oriental Rugs of Bath in a sales and security capacity, it behoved me to learn more on the subject.

This particular tome, clearly and in some depth, covers most aspects of the rug weaving industry.

It is a veritable encyclopaedia of rug construction, origins, design and symbology. Cross-referenced and lavishly illustrated with hundreds of diagrams, photographs it's a first-rate reference work for persons seriously interested in Oriental rugs.

Covers samples from Afghanistan, Asia, Caucasus, China, India, Morocco, Persia (Iran) Pakistan and Turkey. Also included and unusually, examples of Scandinavian and Native American weaving are given.

An A-Z must have edition for anyone with more than a casual interest in the subject. ( )