This is the first reference work to describe the history of embroidery throughout Scandinavia and Western Europe from the Bronze Age to the present day. It offers an authoritative guide to all the major embroidery traditions of the region and a detailed examination of the material, technical, artistic and design aspects of the subject, including its modern-day uses.

For millennia, the peoples of Scandinavia and Western Europe have been producing domestic and professional embroidery to decorate themselves, their families, clients, homes and public spaces. Embroidery is an expression of artistic, personal, family, regional and even political creativity which has played an important role in the social and cultural lives of people throughout this region. It has also reflected economic and political changes over time as well as social, religious and artistic contexts.

With 76 chapters and 634 illustrations (554 in colour) of clothes, accessories and decorated soft furnishings (floor coverings, wall hangings, curtains, bed linen), this Encyclopedia is an invaluable resource for students and scholars of the subject.

This volume is part of the Bloomsbury World Encyclopedia of Embroidery series. The first volume, on embroidery from the Arab World, won the 2017 Dartmouth Medal, awarded by the American Library Association for a reference work of outstanding quality and significance.