First published in 1951 Arnold Hausers commanding work presents an account of the development and meaning of art from its origins in the Stone Age through to the Film Age. Exploring the interaction between art and society, Hauser effectively details social and historical movements and sketches the frameworks in which visual art is produced. This new edition provides an excellent introduction to the work of Arnold Hauser. In his general introduction to The Social History of Art, Jonathan Harris asseses the importance of the work for contemporary art history and visual culture. In addition, an introduction to each volume provides a synopsis of Hausers narrative and serves as a critical guide to the text, identifying major themes, trends and arguments.

首次出版于1951年的《阿诺德-豪泽》是一部关于艺术的发展和意义的著作，从石器时代的起源一直到电影时代。在探索艺术与社会之间的互动时，豪泽尔有效地详述了社会和历史运动，并勾勒出视觉艺术产生的框架。这个新版本为阿诺德-豪泽尔的工作提供了一个很好的介绍。乔纳森-哈里斯在《艺术的社会历史》的总介绍中，评估了该作品对当代艺术史和视觉文化的重要性。此外，每一卷的介绍都提供了豪瑟叙述的概要，并作为文本的批判性指南，确定主要的主题、趋势和论点。