How many colours are there? In the West we see seven, but the Chinese see five, while the Piraha tribe in the Amazon have no words for the spectrum. Colour isn’t something we see; it’s something we think.

In this popular culture miscellany, Paul Simpson takes eleven key colours and explores how they have shaped our evolution as a species, persuaded us in politics and culture and allowed us to express or oppress personal freedoms. His book investigates such issues as the shifting gender of pink, the poisonous potential of green, the decadence of yellow, the performance-diminishing impact of grey and the ways in which orange has shaped power in Europe.