Most of this book consists of monotone plates with captions and a few colour plates. There is an introduction on embroidery in various European & Asian countries that will help inform what you are looking at in the plates.

While of course we wish it could all be in colour (is there a publisher up to keeping the whole thing and just putting in new photos?), the lack does make the lines of many pieces clearer.

I would definitely recommend this for the designer looking for inspiration or for the re-enactor looking for authentic designs of a time or place. For most of us this will require simplification (I am minded of the SCAer who did the whole Bayeux tapestry on muslin with fabric paints, because "creative anachronism" is required when you don't have a lifetime to devote to getting the effect).