Beauty History

A SPOTIFY BEST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026 Bloomsbury presents Beauty of the Beasts by Jo Wimpenny, read by Bettrys Jones In an age of catastrophic biodiversity loss, the author of Aesop’s Animals explains why we should champion and protect nature’s underdogs. Wasps. Snakes...

Brought to you by Penguin. Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase into New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They're the guards in dark blue suits, keeping careful watch over this vast treasure...

Uncover the fascinating history of aesthetics and how shifting cultural ideals shape our bodies, art, and power today. Perfect for a thought-provoking commute, this sociological journey traces human desire from ancient cave paintings to modern digital screens. Dive into a reflective exploration...

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2025 A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2025 ELLE BEST BOOKS OF 2025 'Essential reading' Irish Independent 'Fascinating and powerfully argued' Daily Telegraph 'A captivating must-read for anyone who wants to understand how and why misogyny is as powerful a force as ever'...

Transform your daily commute into a journey through the fascinating cultural history of makeup and societal power. Perfect for listening at your vanity, this empowering narrative reveals how cosmetics act as tools for gender rebellion, social currency, and spiritual survival. Humanity's romance...

From one of Australia's leading historians, the compelling story of a singular nation still realizing its independence and influence on the global stage As a land associated with extremes—from remote desert terrain to some of the world's deadliest creatures—few countries feel as...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of White Teeth by Zadie Smith, read by Lenny Henry, Sagar Arya, Pippa Bennett-Warner and Ray Panthaki. From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Swing Time, On Beauty and Grand Union 'BELIEVE THE HYPE' The Times 'The almost...

In 1960, Hollywood socialite Judith Campbell Exner was introduced to Senator John F. Kennedy in the throes of his run for president. Their secret romance soon entangled her with one of the most dangerous men in America—Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, along with his associate, the sharply...

From incomparable creative force David Byrne, a brilliant and inspiring reckoning with how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered It’s nice to believe in a meritocracy of ideas—genius is always recognized, innovation always seized upon and...

A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2024 A Library Journal Selection for Best Nonfiction of 2024 A Next Big Idea Book Club Must-Read for April “Aarathi Prasad’s Silk: A World History is a love song to this protean material. . . . Beautiful [and] fascinating.” —Wall Street Journal...

Before there were cities, laws, or written language, human beings were already creating images, music, ornaments, and stories.WHY?A BRIEF HISTORY OF ART explores one of humanity’s oldest and most enduring mysteries: our need to create. From prehistoric cave paintings and sacred temples to...

Now a Netflix Series, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is a dazzling story about mothers and daughters, secrets and betrayals, and a binding curse. The #1 International Bestseller Gabriela's mother Luna is the most beautiful woman in all of Jerusalem, though her famed beauty and charm seem to be...

From the award-winning author of The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary comes an immersive and thought-provoking exploration of the modern zoo that confronts our fraught relationship with the animal world in the age of extinction. Most thinking on the modern zoo falls neatly into two camps: zoos are...

Brought to you by Penguin. What would women do with their lives if they had more time? The riveting, untold story of a revolutionary campaign to change the way work is valued 'The women of the world are serving notice. We want wages for every dirty toilet, every indecent assault, every painful...

Beauty, make-up, art, power: How to Be a Renaissance Woman presents an alternative history of this period as told by the women behind the paintings, providing a window into their often overlooked or silenced lives. Can the pressures women feel to look good be traced back to the sixteenth century?...

A vibrant, revealing memoir about the cultural and familial pressures that shaped George Elliott Clarke’s early life in the Black Canadian community that he calls Africadia, centred in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a boy, George Elliott Clarke knew that a great deal was expected from him and his...

Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by the removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. —The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce A Courageous Outcast . . . Rosamunde Baird has lost everything and has no choice but to accept an invitation to...

Desde o garbo e a elegância nos primeiros anos da República até a atual banalização das cirurgias plásticas, História da beleza no Brasil trata das transformações ligadas aos padrões estéticos e aos cuidados com o corpo, mas também do martírio causado pela feiura e da tumultuada luta para driblar o envelhecimento, a solidão e o fracasso.

In Sweden, hundreds of refugee children fall into a state that resembles sleep for months or years at a time. In Le Roy, a town in upstate New York, teenage girls develop involuntary twitches and seizures that spread like a conta­gion. In the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, employees experience headaches...

Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist, producer, and actor T.I. proved himself a powerful storyteller as well with the publication of his debut novel Power & Beauty. Now he follows up with his second riveting street-lit epic, Trouble & Triumph. T.I.’s explosive sequel picks up the story of Paul...