Museum Culture

“Warm-hearted, clear-minded, and unexpectedly spellbinding, Meet Me at the Museum is a novel to savor.” — Annie Barrows, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society In Denmark, Professor Anders Larsen, an urbane man of facts, has lost his...

70 million years ago in what will one day become Mongolia, a successor to Velociraptor faces struggle after struggle. Times have grown cold and her eggs need constant care, and constant guard. How does a wolf sized raptor survive in the shadows of giants? How does she adapt to changing climates or circumstance? And what happens when a threat from her own past finds her new home?

In its first four months of operation, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture surpassed one million visits and quickly became a cherished, vital monument to the African American experience. And yet this accomplishment was never assured. In A Fool's Errand, founding director Lonnie Bunch tells his story of bringing his clear vision and leadership to realize this shared dream of many generations of Americans.

A funny, inviting book about art for people who don’t know about “art”—featuring new artworks by David Shrigley. What is art, where do I find it, and once I’m in front of it, what am I supposed to think about it? Kate Bryan is a self-confessed art addict who has worked with art for...

The intimate, inspiring memoir of a “curator extraordinaire” (The Guardian)—part unputdownable coming-of-age story, part insider’s tour of the contemporary art world, part user’s manual on how to live a life driven by curiosity, conversation, and coincidence “A few years ago...

A thought-provoking microhistory of the humble pocket that uncovers what pockets reveal about us—and why it matters. It’s a subject that stirs up plenty of passion: Why do men’s clothes have so many pockets and women’s so few? In her captivating book, Hannah Carlson, a lecturer in dress...

Most books about Athens tell you where to get the best view of the Acropolis. This one gives you the story behind what you’re seeing. Backstory Atlas Athens: 10 Reasons We Can’t Stop Visiting The Ancient Argument – A Guide to Its Travel History is a short, curated read that makes travel richer. It explores how a city with no great river, no easy geography, and no obvious path to global importance became one of the most influential destinations in human history. This is not a guidebook or a long, heavy history lesson. It is a short, curated read for travelers who want to know the story...

“This daughter of Mary Shelley delights and excites the border between story and science.”―Samantha Hunt “A novel about what we want and also what we can’t escape.”―Allegra Hyde “A haunting chord of a novel that will hang in the air long after you turn the final page...

Most books about Madrid tell you where to queue for the Prado. This one gives you the story behind what you’re seeing. Backstory Atlas Madrid: 10 Reasons We Can’t Stop Visiting The Deliberate City – A Guide to Its Travel History is a short, curated read that makes travel richer. It explores how a city with no great river, no natural harbor, and no obvious claim to greatness became one of Europe’s most important capitals — and why Madrid still feels so shaped by power, ambition, resilience, and reinvention. This is not a guidebook or a long, heavy history lesson. It is a short, ...

Whenever people come to see the Jewish Ghetto in Rome, they are a bit underwhelmed at first. Besides the synagogue and the many kosher restaurants, at first glance there does not seem to be a lot to see. However, the ghetto is a very interesting area with a painful history. Once you know this history and the places associated with it, the area becomes much more alive. The Roman Jewish community was one of the oldest in Europe and one of the last to gain its freedom. The story of the Roman Jews is different from those of other Jewish communities and not well known by the general public. For ...

Experience Tucson: Culture, Food & Desert Life is an immersive guide to one of Arizona’s most distinctive cities — where ancient history, living culture, and desert landscapes shape everyday life. Unlike fast-paced travel guides focused on checklists, this book invites you to slow down and experience Tucson with context and intention. From its deep Indigenous roots and Spanish colonial past to its globally recognized food culture and relationship with the Sonoran Desert, Tucson reveals itself through layers rather than landmarks alone.

Stories of growing up in an Irish village told with a "blend of history, tradition and humour". Siobhán Lincoln records the social history of Ardmore village, tales of school days, dances, fishing, work, language and tradition. This book will be of interest to anyone who wants a picture of life in rural Ireland from the late 19th century to the dawning of the Millennium. From the forword by Fergal Keane: "The past slips away from us quietly. We are too consumed with the drama of the present to notice the departure of old ways and traditions. In an age of economic growth without parallel in...

Bloomsbury presents The Longing for Less by Kyle Chayka, read by Christopher Ragland. New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice "More than just a story of an abiding cultural preoccupation, The Longing For Less peels back the commodified husk of minimalism to reveal something surprising and...

In Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Robert L. Wilkins tells the story of how his curiosity about why there wasn't a national museum dedicated to African American history and culture became an obsession - eventually leading him to quit his job as an attorney when his wife was seven months pregnant with their second child, and make it his mission to help the museum become a reality.

This eBook offers an exploration of Eastern and Western arts and art culture through a comparative lens, highlighting both their distinctive qualities and the ways in which we can engage in meaningful dialogue. Beginning with Eastern art, the discussion emphasizes harmony with nature, symbolic meaning, and philosophical depth. From delicate representations of birds, flowers, fish, and mythical animals to cultural traditions such as the Chinese zodiac and seasonal festivals, Eastern art reflects a worldview that values balance, reflection, and the integration of human life with the natural ...

As consumers of art, and especially as fans, we have a host of tricky moral question to navigate: do the moral lives of artists affect the aesthetic quality of their work? In Drawing the Line, Erich Hatala Matthes argues that it doesn't matter whether we can separate the art from the artist, because we shouldn't. Matthes argues both that the lives of artists can play an important role in shaping our moral and aesthetic relationship to the artworks that we love and that these same artworks offer us powerful resources for grappling with the immorality of their creators. 

The dream of capturing and organizing knowledge is as old as history. From the archives of ancient Sumeria and the Library of Alexandria to the Library of Congress and Wikipedia, humanity has wrestled with the problem of harnessing its intellectual output. The timeless quest for wisdom has been as much about information storage and retrieval as creative genius. In Cataloging the World, Alex Wright introduces us to a figure who stands out in the long line of thinkers and idealists who devoted themselves to the task.

The Nommo Award Winner. The Nebula Award Finalist. The World Fantasy Award Finalist. The British Science Fiction Award Nominee. A contemporary fantasy filled with the mythos of Nigeria. Shigidi is the god of nightmares. Once a feared and powerful member of the Yoruba spirit world, these days he...

Brought to you by Penguin. Samantha’s mother tongue is dying out. An urgent need to find out more becomes an expansive investigation into how to keep hold of her culture – and when to let it go The daughter of Iraqi Jewish refugees, Samantha grew up surrounded by the noisy, vivid, hot sounds...

Brought to you by Penguin. A deeply personal, first-hand account of art, survival and resistance in wartime Ukraine Charlotte Higgins never imagined she would report on a war. But in the autumn of 2022, seven months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she travelled there to cover a...