[]
The Face
Play sample
  • Published: 26 February 2026
  • ISBN: 9781802064339
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 288

The Face

A Cultural History

Formats & editions
Hardback
26 May 2026
EBook
26 Feb 2026
Audiobook
26 Feb 2026
Buy from…
Amazon Apple Books Google Play Kobo Booktopia eBooks.com

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.
  • Published: 26 February 2026
  • ISBN: 9781802064339
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 288
Categories:

About the author

Fay Bound Alberti

Dr. Fay Bound-Alberti founded the Centre for Technology and the Body at King’s College London where she leads Interface, the world’s first and only multi-million-pound project examining technologies of the face. Fay is often interviewed for TV and radio, including the BBC, ABC and CNN, and she has written for publications including the Lancet, TIME magazine, the Guardian and Times Literary Supplement. She lives with prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, and is based in London.
FBA

Praise for The Face

The Face has blown me away. It's utterly fascinating, beautifully written, scholarly yet entertaining and I completely love it. I couldn't admire Fay Bound-Alberti more

Joanna Lumley

Like the double-faced god Janus, Bound-Alberti’s piercing gaze is split between our rich past and our uncertain future, enabling her to offer some fascinating insights about the nature of human identity. She uses both the wide-angle lens and the magnifying glass to dazzling effect. A compelling and thought-provoking book that is sure to linger in the reader's mind

Lindsey Fitzharris, New York Times Bestselling author of <i> The Facemaker </i>

Equal parts gripping and scholarly... a timely book that gets to the heart of contemporary society

Katy Hessel, Sunday Times

An elegant and engaging history... at its most compelling when it becomes polemical, showing how the sexism, classism and racism that informs how we have long perceived faces is reinforced today

Max Liu, Financial Times

An expansive exploration of the human face and the extraordinary burden it has been made to carry... a meticulously researched and unsettling book, and Bound-Alberti’s overarching message is poignant

Zoë Huxford, New Statesman

Compelling, scholarly, striking... an elegant history

Rose Beer, Evening Standard

Fascinating... a distinctive take on what we don’t normally appreciate as a "cultural object"

Telegraph best book of 2026