Why do we need art? What Art Does is an invitation to explore this vital question. How it creates communities, opens our worlds, and can transform us. Curious and playful, richly illustrated, full of ideas and life, it is an inspiring call to imagine a different future.

What is it to be a work of art? Part philosophical monograph and part memoiristic meditation, this book challenges the popular interpretation that art is an indefinable concept, instead bringing to light the properties that constitute universal meaning.

From one of the country's most eminent reviewers and academics, a delightfully sceptical and devastatingly intelligent assessment of the true value of art.

Gildea suggests that the more people who really understand what good history entails, the more likely history is to triumph over myth. He sees positive signs in public history, citizen historians and community projects, debunking claims that 'you cannot rewrite history', arguing that good history that's attuned to its times must be rewritten.

Winner of the Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller, this book is about a journey undertaken by the author that begins in the dusty city of Jingdezhen in China and travels on to Venice, Versailles, Dublin, Dresden, the Appalachian Mountains of South Carolina and the hills of Cornwall to tell the history of porcelain.

Explores modes of racial coding in Hollywood cinema from 1915 to 1985. This study presents three major methods through which racist ideology functions in film - "mythification", marking and omission. It analyzes film texts drawn from both classical Hollywood and Black independent film culture.

The 1932 horror film "White Zombie" starring Bela Lugosi has received controversial attention from film reviewers and scholars - but it is unarguably a cult classic worthy of study. This book analyzes the film text from nearly every possible viewpoint, using both academic and popular film theories.

* 'A History of Hollywood, Its Money and Dreams - and what it did to us

What is contemporary art? What makes it 'contemporary'? What is it for? And why is it so expensive? From museums and the art market to biennales and the next big thing, this book offers insights into today's art scene, decoding 'artspeak', explaining what curators do, demystifying conceptual art, exploring emerging art markets and more.

The 50th anniversary edition of the first major work of feminist art history, published together with the author's reflections three decades on.

Explores how the ancient relationship between man and nature has been broken in the modern consumer age, with the animals that used to be at the centre of our existence now marginalized and reduced to spectacle.

A powerful reflection on the universal art museum, considering the values critical to its history and anticipating its evolving place in our cultural future

Examines buildings from the past half century or so that pushed the boundaries of what was architecturally acceptable when they were built. This book explores the history of these buildings and their makers, presenting relevant biographical factors and socio-cultural influences that impacted on the distinctive designs.

Numerous designers have pioneered cutting-edge garments and collections throughout the evolution of fashion. But all too often a lack of obvious fit or purpose has been mistaken for a lack of design sophistication. This title champions the improbable, the provocative, the uncomfortable and the seemingly ridiculous.

Gives you an understanding of the ways in which modern art differs from realistic works of earlier centuries. This book examines 100 works of modern art that have attracted critical and public hostility from Cy Twomblys scribbled "Olympia", Jean-Michel Basquiats crude but spontaneous "LNAPRK", and more.

A tender and moving account of Jean-Michel Basquiat's life as seen through the eyes of his muse

A vital re-examination of the trailblazing and controversial artist Paul Gauguin, by the prize-winning author of I Am Dynamite!

The first monograph published on the English Post-War artist Wilfred Avery.