Books published by Thames & Hudson Ltd

An expert guide to the highlights and unexpected treasures of British collections.

The definitive survey of contemporary photography of the human body.

Addresses important questions about Bacon's painting practice and focuses on his life and work. This title reveals how photography, film, mass-media imagery and other sources informed Bacon's painting and, in particular, how lens-based images helped to trigger the most significant turning-point in his stylistic development.

The award-winning guide to everything we know about the Neanderthals, from their emergence to their extinction, now updated and expanded to feature the latest discoveries in the field of Neanderthal DNA.

An authoritative introduction to one of the most influential painters in the history of art, written by the pre-eminent authority on the subject and informed by the latest research. More versatile and less idiosyncratic than Michelangelo, more prolific and accessible than his mentor Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, though he died at only thirty-seven, is considered the single most influential artist of the Renaissance. Here, art historian Paul Joannides explores the different social and regional contexts of Raphael's work and discusses all aspects of his artistic output. He traces Raphael's career from his origins in Urbino, through his altarpieces made in Umbria in the shadow of Perugino, to the first flowering of his genius in Florence where he painted a series of iconic Madonnas that are among the most beloved images in Western art. Raphael's employment by the dynamic and demanding Pope Julius II gave him opportunities without parallel and encouraged the full expansion of his genius. As a sophisticate entrepreneur, he dominated Rome's artistic life and extended the range of his activities to that of architect, designer, pioneer archaeologist and theoretician. The foundation of Raphael's versatility and range was his supreme clarity of mind as a draughtsman. Knowledge of his drawings, on which Joannides is a leading expert, is central to understanding of his achievement, and they are thoroughly explored here.

The first substantial book on the French Neo-Romantics, a cosmopolitan group working in 1920s Paris who turned against modernist abstraction in favour of a new form of figurative painting.

A lavishly illustrated reference on a little-known chapter in art history - the art of the three Baltic States, covering a wide range of mediums, movements and styles. The Baltic States - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - retain strong cultural identities that have survived despite centuries of colonization by powerful neighbouring lands. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artists and writers were starting to reclaim and promote their own artistic heritage as radically distinct from that of the invading nations, with pioneers such as M. K. Ciurlionis and Vilhelms Purvitis demonstrating rare originality in their work. In the wake of the First World War, the three Baltic countries regained their autonomy, and the 1920s and 30s became a rich period of openness and international artistic exchange. Modernism in all its forms flourished, not only in painting but in sculpture, printmaking, photomontage and the decorative arts, ranging from the elegant abstraction of Arnold Akberg to the provocative figuration of Karlis Padegs and the experimental photography of Domicele Tarabildiene. Art of the Baltic States is organized into three main chapters, documenting the history of art in each country. Enriched with illustrations from important museum collections, Fauchereau covers key art movements as well as their complex historical background, from time under the Czars and the German crown to the invasion by the Soviet Union and beyond. With each country showcased in its own lavishly illustrated section, this is a wonderful guide to a vibrant field in European art history that is often overlooked but deserves rediscovery and a place on the global stage.

A collection of intimate and revelatory first-hand accounts of pandemics through the ages. Humanity has always been struck by pestilence and pandemics, from the plagues of ancient Egypt to the pox that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages, to Covid-19. People living through the crises have always recorded what they saw, what they felt, and what they did. Some presented sober facts laced with anecdote, while others produced emotional outpourings; moralists speculated on the origins of the horror, poets distilled the suffering. Doctors described how they were able to advance their understanding of disease and scientists how to cure it, while survivors and the families of victims gave the inside story of the nightmare that develops when a long-feared disease enters your home or your body. There was a time when to read accounts of the Plague in Wittenburg by Martin Luther or the Great Plague of 1665 by Samuel Pepys - scenes of anguish and woe, empty streets, quarantined houses, closed businesses, overflowing graveyards, heroic doctors and nurses, quack remedies and charlatans - was to enter a disturbing and unfamiliar world. Today, to read the same words is to be hit by a jolt of recognition and understanding. As well as causing a huge loss of life, the Covid pandemic has taught us a great deal about ourselves and the way we live, illuminating tensions at the heart of society. This collection of intimate and revelatory first-hand accounts of pandemics through the ages bears witness to despair, rage, the blackest of humour, heartbreak and hope. These voices hold up a mirror to our own experiences of, and responses to, the crisis today.

You can find joy in the simplest objects - even a humble rubber band! You can have fun pinging it or playing with it in the bath. But you can also use it to do exciting, unexpected things, like bungee jumping out of a plane, or sneaking a furtive snack. The only limit is your imagination! Renowned author-illustrator Shinsuke Yoshitake brings his trademark wit and thoughtfulness to this charming book, which honours children's attachment to their favourite things while opening the door to a world of exciting new objects and experiences.

The lives, loves, and works of key British Surrealists revealed by one of the last surviving members of this movement, best-selling author and artist Desmond Morris.

The story of our Universe, from its beginning in the first milliseconds of the Big Bang up to our present moment and beyond, told in a gripping narrative by one of the world's leading astronomers.

An elegant collection of Christian Dior's maxims on style, women and inspiration, presented in a fashionable gift format. Credited with creating some of the most luxurious and spectacular haute couture pieces of all time, Christian Dior became a fashion icon overnight in 1947 with the launch of his 'New Look' - sumptuous hourglass silhouettes that provided a welcome tonic to the austerity of wartime. Its wild success, and the global fame that ensued, was built on the designer's subtle understanding of fashion, couture, style, elegance and women - a perspective and insight best revealed in Dior's own words, which are gathered here for the first time. Rightly described as the 'Designer of Dreams' in the recent blockbuster exhibition on the house of Dior that attracted millions of visitors the world over, Christian Dior was an unrivalled arbiter in the world of high fashion. Dior was generous with his advice on all things, from style and how to dress ('No elegant woman follows fashion blindly', he once declared), to his insights into the creative process, invaluable for any budding designer. Presented in a beautiful package and accessible format, The World According to Christian Dior is the perfect gift for fashion fans, publishing on the occasion of the house's 75th anniversary.

A selection of key essays on art from the nineteenth century to the present day by one of the most influential voices in art history.

The definitive visual history of the world under Covid-19, documented by the photographers of Agence France Presse.

Back with a vengeance, collage superstar Cold War Steve goes viral, casting a scathing view on the past year on Plague Island.

The second monograph on the work of interior designer, architect and landscape designer Bill Bensley. Bill Bensley's exuberant aesthetic is renowned around the world. Vanity Fair has described him as 'the craziest sane designer in the world', while Conde Nast Traveller hails him as a 'master of fabulation'. Bensley's eponymous design studio, based in Bangkok and Bali, is most famous for its work on luxury hotels throughout Southeast Asia. Featuring detailed presentations of 12 of his most exciting, extravagant, outlandish and award-winning projects, this bold, large-format design monograph reflects Bensley's theatrical style this bold, large-format design monograph reflects Bensley's theatrical style and his maxim, 'Lebih Gila Lebih Baik': 'The Odder the Better'.

The definitive survey of Keith Tyson's thirty-year career. British Turner Prize-winning artist Keith Tyson is known for a distinctive and diverse body of work including drawing, painting, installation and sculpture. Showing a wide range of influences, from mathematics and science through to poetry and mythology, he is interested in how art emerges from the combination of information systems and physical processes that surround us every day.For over thirty years, Tyson has probed, dissected, explored and questioned reality. Not fixed to one artistic style, Tyson sets out to challenge himself and the audience, whilst working with diverse materials - paint, clay, metal, resin - to question our knowledge of the world we perceive as real, and art's role in representing it.With newly commissioned texts from an internationally diverse array of writers, and including a previously unpublished interview with the artist, this is the definitive survey of one of the most restless and adventurous creators working today.

Draws on a lifetime's study and a decade of new research to address the first question that every visitor asks: how was Stonehenge built? There is, you might think, nothing like it: the simple, graphic genius of these great, arranged blocks. The stones seem to rise from the ground in some antediluvian heave of the Earth: lintels, great horizontal slabs, roughly squared, the grey rock now covered in subtle lichen green. There really is nothing like Stonehenge. Who made this? When? Why? How? It sounds obvious perhaps, and the most common question: how was Stonehenge built? Yet it's the least researched aspect of the site, and no modern archaeologist has ever written this book. With a unique focus on the monument itself, How to Build Stonehenge sets out to do just that: describe Stonehenge as it is today, what we know about the different types of stone and where they came from, how they were brought to the site, how they were carved and positioned to create the ultimate in megalithic architecture, and how this was taken down and left to ruin until the decay was arrested in the 20th century with substantial restoration works. A book like this couldn't have been written fifty years ago. Mike Pitts explores the latest research understanding of the site, interrogating the key questions: the sources of the various stones, how they were transported and how it was all put together. The book will consider the first significant study of sarsen, the stone most of Stonehenge is made of, in detail for the very first time and bring it into the wider context of other megalith builders around the world, as well as placing Stonehenge at the centre of a network of European Bronze Age cultures.

Controversial in both life and art, Francis Bacon was one of the most important painters of the 20th century. Written by his friend and collaborator, eminent art writer and curator David Sylvester, this book reflects on his life and career.

A comprehensive overview of Richard Long's career, selected by the artist himself and spanning his career from the late 1960s to today.

A long overdue monograph on the life and work of artist Ruskin Spear.

A magical follow-up to the bestselling If I had a dinosaur and If I had a sleepy sloth

What surprises await behind the flaps?... Find out in this charming addition to the Flip Flap Pop-Up series.