'Utterly fascinating beautifully written scholarly yet entertaining' Dame Joanna Lumley A
pioneering study into how we interpret faces and what they reveal about us from a
world-renowned cultural historian What's in a face? The face is the only part of the body
where all the senses come together and over the course of human history has come to represent
who we are as individuals. We unlock our phones with facial recognition we have our faces
stamped in our passports and although our faces may change over the course of our lives -
whether through ageing accident illness or lifestyle - they remain a foundational marker of
identity. In The Face cultural historian Fay Bound-Alberti explores the ways humans have
interpreted faces and how they have shaped our ideas of morality social hierarchy psychology
and so much more revealing some of the biases that inform our everyday lives. She charts how
new technologies and cultural innovations have transformed our conception of selfhood over time
- from the growth of portraiture in the Renaissance and the mass production of mirrors and
photography in the nineteenth century to twenty-first century developments such as digital
avatars and face transplants. Bringing together a wealth of fascinating research interviews
and illuminating personal narratives Bound-Alberti probes beneath the surface to ask what our
faces really say about us.
