The Face: A Cultural History

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 one of our quintessential features and is the only part of the body where all the senses come together: smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing. Though your face might change over the course of your life – whether through ageing, accident, illness or lifestyle – it remains a foundational marker of your identity.
In The Face, cultural historian Fay Bound Alberti explores the ways humans have interpreted faces and correlated their features with ideas of morality, social hierarchy, psychology and so much more, revealing some of the cultural biases that inform the interactions of our everyday lives. Bound Alberti charts how new technologies that reflect or alter our face’s appearance 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 innovations, 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.

© Fay Bound Alberti 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026