Victor Margolin was Professor Emeritus of Design History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. He was a founding editor and co-editor of the academic design journal Design Issues. His many books include: World History of Design (2017- ); The Designed World: Images, Objects, Environments (2010); The Politics of the Artificial: Essays on Design (2002); Discovering Design: Explorations in Design Studies (1995), and Design Discourse: History, Theory, Criticism (1989).

Victor was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Cumulus and the Design Research Society.

Online version features 1500 colour images

Volume 1
Prehistoric Times to World War I

1. The Prehistoric Age
2. The Earliest Civilizations, 7000 BCE - 900 BCE
3. The Classical Age and Early Byzantium, 900 BCE - 800 CE
4. Medieval Europe and the Islamic World, 800-1200
5. Asia, Africa and the Americas, 800 BCE - 1200 CE
6. Renaissance Europe and the Ottoman Empire, 1200-1750
7. Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1200-1750
8. The Industrial Revolution: Europe and America, 1750-1830
9. The Age of Exhibitions: Great Britain 1830-1900
10. The Craft Ideal and the Art Movement: Britain and Elsewhere, 1861-1915
11. The Age of Exhibitions: Europe Outside Great Britain, 1830-1900
12. Art Nouveau and the Decorative Impulse, 1890-1914
13. The United States, 1840-1900
14. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, 1300-1900
15. Protoindustrialization in Diverse Regions, 1750-1900
16. Colonies and Pre-industrial Nations in Asia and Africa, 1750-1900
17. Modern Design in Europe and America, 1900-1917
18. Art and Literature of the Avant-Gardes, 1897-1918
19. World War I, 1914-1918