The Louvre: 7 Minutes to Steal Centuries of HistoryDive into the riveting true story of one of the most daring museum heists in modern history. In just seven minutes, thieves breached the security of the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris and stole priceless jewels, including the imperial crown of Empress Eugénie—an emblem of French heritage.This gripping account meticulously reconstructs the events of the 2025 raid, uncovering the vulnerabilities behind a seemi...

**'Thank god for Richard Sennett ... essential reading for all students of the city' Anna Minton, Prospect'Constantly stimulating ideas from a veteran of urban thinking' Jonathan Meades, Guardian**In Building and Dwelling, Richard Sennett distils a lifetime's thinking and practical experience to explore the relationship between the good built environment and the good life. He argues for, and describes in rich detail, the idea of an open city, one ...

According to the renowned anthropologist and architect Franco La Cecla, modern architecture has lost its way and its true function. A modern generation of 'archistars' is now more concerned with building their own brand, with little or no thought given to context and those who will actually live and inhabit the spaces that they create. Yet this is not merely a diatribe against the world for which La Cecla trained, it is also a call to rethink urban space, to take cities back from what he c...

For decades, Clotaire Rapaille's work focused on how people's relationships with the most important concepts in their lives—love, health, and money, for instance—are guided by subconscious cultural messages. But recently, he has uncovered a new phenomenon: a "global unconscious," or core values and feelings that are consistent worldwide—the result of our constant interconnectedness. He has also identified a new group who are paving the way for the future of decision-making: the Global Trib...

A bold manifesto arguing that the most complex challenges we face today—as individuals, businesses, and a society—require us to ask deeper questions, not seek easier answers“With this beautifully written book, Seth Goldenberg awakens the gifts we all possess: wonder, optimism, and the fearlessness to reverse destruction.”—Bruce Vaughn, vice president of experiential creative product, AirbnbIn a world with an endless hunger for innovation, w...

The French are famously enigmatic: fiercely independent yet deeply romantic,conservative yet avant-garde, rational yet emotional. What is it, exactly, that makes the French so... French?Written for anyone interacting with the French - tourists, businesspeople, international students, Francophiles - Au Contraire! offers a perceptive understanding of French cultural beliefs, assumptions and attitudes, along with practical advice on building strong personal and professional r...

Politics is no longer the art of the possible, but of the fictive. Its aim is not to change the world as it exists, but to affect the way that it is perceived. In Storytelling Christian Salmon looks at the twenty-first century hijacking of creative imagination, anatomizing the timeless human desire for narrative form, and how this desire is abused by the marketing mechanisms that bolster politicians and their products: luxury brands trade on embellished histories, managers tell st...

What is the role of education in a world where we no longer have a clear vision of the future and where the idea of a single, universal model of humanity seems like the residue of a bygone age? What role should educators play in a world where young people find themselves faced with deep uncertainty about their future, where the prospects of securing a stable, long-term career seem increasingly remote and where intensified population movements have created more diverse communities in which ...

What is the similarity between battery chicken, iris scans, Facebook friends, and porn videos? They are all features of a technical system built to satisfy our desires and to suppress our fears. It is a so-called hyperreality, an improved version of natural reality, promising wealth, security, and belonging. However, behind the shiny appearance we can detect a few dangerous mechanisms. Increasingly our tools are controlling us, instead of the other way around, and we are steadily rebuildin...

What does a coffee machine, a car, road signs, a smartphone, a cathedral, a work of art, a satellite, a bicycle, a washing machine, a bridge, a watch, a computer, the body of a prominent politician and a tractor have in common? Pretty much nothing – except for the fact that, no matter how small, large, important or insignificant something is, it rarely survives without being cared for. Every object eventually experiences wear and tear, it deteriorates, stops working or breaks down. But are...

All Over the Map is an urgent response to the radical changes in contemporary architecture and the built environment witnessed in the twenty-first century. Characteristically polemic, incisive and energetic, these essays explore pressing questions of architectural and urban design, and critical issues of public space and participation. From New York to New Orleans, the Amazon to Jerusalem, Sorkin brings a critical eye to bear on a sweeping range of subjects.Whether castiga...

Bruno Latour has written a unique and wonderful tale of a technological dream gone wrong. The story of the birth and death of Aramis—the guided-transportation system intended for Paris—is told in this thought-provoking and fictional account by several different parties: an engineer and his professor; company executives and elected officials; a sociologist; and finally Aramis itself, who delivers a passionate plea on behalf of technological innovations that risk being abandoned by their mak...