Has an artwork ever made you hot under the collar? How often have you walked through a gallery, tried to focus on the text panel, but, really, just been enamoured by the drop dead gorgeous guy staring back at you?It's magical to think how art can make you blush, sometimes thousands of years after it was made. Painters still get our pulse racing with a few strokes of their brush, as do the sculptors who turned stone into supple skin using their hammers and chisels, ...

Based on the eponymous viral Twitter account, Museum Bums, a celebration of classical art, history, and shapely derrières, encourages readers to learn something new while still managing to have a chuckle.What do Hieronymus Bosch, the Roman cult of Antinous, and the peach emoji all have in common? But of course, butts, of course!Divided into six categories of keisters, this humorous history book takes you on a whirlwind tour of the finest rear ends ...

'Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words and language' Pam Ayres'Susie Dent is a national treasure' Richard OsmanWelcome to a year of wonder with Susie Dent, lexicographer, logophile, and longtime queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner.From the real Jack the Lad to the theatrically literal story behind stealing someone's thunder, from tartle (forgetting someone...

The beloved plays of Shakespeare are still produced everywhere, yet the life of the world's most famous playwright remains largely a mystery. Young Will left the town of Stratford to pursue theater in London, where his work eventually thrived and made him a famous and wealthy man. With black-and-white illustrations that include a diagram of the famous Globe theater, Celeste Davidson Mannis puts together the pieces of Shakespeare's life and work for young readers.

Shakespeare’s Ear presents dark and sometimes funny pieces of fact and folklore that bedevil the mostly unknown history of theater. All manner of skullduggery, from revenge to murder, from affairs to persecution, proves that the drama off-stage was just as intense as any portrayed on it. The stories include those of:An ancient Greek writer of tragedies who dies when an eagle drops a tortoise on his head.A sixteenth-century English playwright who lives a double life...

A playful, form-bending novel from the Booker Prize-shortlisted, Women's Prize-winning author of How to be both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet'Playful and audacious' IndependentNarrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, Artful slips slyly between fiction and essay, guiding the reader thrillingly through a sequence of ideas on art and literature. With Smi...

Here's a book about Rome that's seriously streetwise. Lonely Planet Kids' City Trails: Rome features colourful themed trails, from history and culture to food and nature, that reveal amazing facts and intriguing tales that kids won't find on the tourist routes or inside the average guidebook. We'll show them where to find Rome's belly button, read a poem to chocolate, snack on witch sweets, and lots more!Join Lonely Planet explorers Marco and Amelia as the...

"Who can resist an art critic with attitude?"--Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, Ian Binnie"It was wonderful! Julian shared his enormous knowledge of the world's best art with a panache that is irresistible."--Justice Stephen Goudge, Ontario Court of AppealThis essential companion to all the major European museums and galleries discusses some of the world’s greatest paintings from Giotto through to Picasso. Julian Porter’s passion for art began with the ...

How to Read Paintings explores some of the finest paintings from the world of art history.Have you ever come across a painting from art history and wondered what it was about? Do you wish you knew what to look for so you could understand it better?How to Read Paintings explores the fascinating meaning behind a range of famous paintings, including masterworks by Vermeer and Cézanne. You will learn how different subject matters are brought to life th...

Pre-eminent author and art historian Simon Schama has written widely on art for many years to great acclaim. In Hang-Ups, a personal selection of his articles from, amongst others, The New Yorker, appears in Britain for the very first time. Brilliantly and lucidly written by one of the most singular voices in non-fiction, this volume of provocative and often idiosyncratic essays makes hugely satisfying reading for lovers of both art and social history. In contains pieces ...

A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEARAN OBSERVER BEST ART BOOK OF 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2022‘This is a wonderful book. A lyrical journey into the natural and unnatural world’ Patti Smith‘Everything Philip Hoare writes is bewitching’ Olivia LaingAn illuminating exploration of the intersection between life, art and the sea from the award-winning author of L...

* 'Great art has dreadful manners...' Simon Schama observes at the start of his epic exploration of the power, and whole point, of art. 'The hushed reverence of the gallery can fool you into believing masterpieces are polite things, visions that soothe, charm and beguile, but actually they are thugs. Merciless and wily, the greatest paintings grab you in a headlock, rough up your composure and then proceed in short order to re-arrange your sense of reality...'* Wit...