On the back cover:

Buttons have a long history, dating back perhaps even as far as the Bronze Age, but how can you tell an antique button from a modern one? Could granny's button box contain a hidden treasure?

Many buttons are plain and simple, but others are miniature works of art reflecting the history of costume and fashion. Uniform buttons may evoke the grandeur of past times,or carry the echoes of battles won and lost. Buttons are highly collectable.

This book provides anyone with an interest in buttons the information they will need to understand the scope of the subject, and to successfully date and classify most types of button.