J.M.W. Turner was an original and prolific painter who produced effects such as dissolving form, rendering diaphanous expanses of light, and using colour with subtlety and control. Turner used not only his powers of natural observation, but was also intensely involved with the culture of his times, using landscape as a vehicle for ruminations on society, politics, and the human condition. This work assesses the range and complexity of Turner's work, investigating his artistic and literary influences and interpreting his political views. However, it focuses primarily on describing the evolution of his approach techniques — from his early detailed topographical watercolours to his later almost abstract paintings, which foreshadowed modernism.

J.M.W. Turner was a fascinating and enigmatic figure. Both astonishingly prolific and extraordinarily innovative, he is widely seen as the greatest British landscape painter of them all, anticipating and surpassing the Impressionists in his dramatic interpretations of the effects of light and colour. The Turner Book goes beyond the usual interpretations of the artist, revealing the extraordinary self-belief and ambition that allowed him to continue steadfastly with his experimentation in the face of hostile critical attack. The book examines in detail key works and the techniques by which Turner realised them and features revealing extracts from his notebooks, travel journals and poetry. Beautifully illustrated with both famous and unknown works and ranging over the entire course of the artist's career, this is the essential guide to Turner's life and work. Sam Smiles is Professor of Art History at the University of Plymouth at Exeter and the author of numerous acclaimed books, including J.M.W. Turner, Two-way Traffic: British Art and Italian Art 1880-1980 and The Image of Antiquity: Ancient Britain and the Romantic Imagination.