I can't remember if this book is one I picked up for $1 at a book sale or one that sat on my parent's shelf for years. Either way, it's one I would have keep forever and never read if not for my need reading plan (Alpha by Title). This was a quick read, being mostly pictures, but by no means shallow or simple. Wood does an excellent job of describing each work and giving the reason behind it's significance. He speaks with authority and knowledge and the usual artsy jargon. My qualm is with the works he chose. No female artists. I understand for much of history, female artist weren't prominent or influential enough to be considered. But I refuse to believe out of 100 masterpieces, there was no female artist who's work reviled that of her male peers. Vigee-Lebrun? Morisot? O'Keefe? For this reason, I am not please with Wood's book. I feel he chose works deemed masterpieces by the general public and not works that were actually masterpieces. Shame on him. Just because everyone like a painting doesn't make it great. Everyone like Twilight and that sucks. ( )