Turner's sketchbooks provide us with a rare and unique opportunity to witness the building blocks, steps and missteps of an artist unparalleled in impact. They give us a privileged look over Turner's shoulder, allowing us to witness the creation and development of ideas that can be traced through to his most famous paintings. In the absence of detailed written accounts of his extensive travels, the notebooks are also a record of his impressions of the many places he visited across Britain and Europe. This book is the first to survey the full range of Turner's sketchbooks, beginning with his teenage explorations and culminating in the masterful colour studies of his later years.