Published to coincide with the new Silver Gallery at the V&A Museum, this book provides a social history of silver, from the middle ages to the present day. It is illustrated with material from paintings, engravings, designs and contemporary records to examples of ceremonial and domestic silver. Double-page features show silver in many different contexts: from laying the table, drinking customs and rituals, plate and piety, to techniques of making and embellishing silver, how to recognize fakes and forgeries, as well as practicalities, such as care and cleaning. The book should be of interest to collectors and connoisseurs, and all those interest in this historic metal.