Architecture & Design Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

Pretty Iconic: A Personal Look at the Beauty Products that Changed the World

Over 200 iconic products that are among the best and most influential in the beauty world - past, present and future. 'Sali Hughes has created a universe filled with galaxies of beauty secrets' Charlotte Tilbury Packed full of beauty wisdom, Pretty Iconic takes us from the evocative smell of Johnson's baby lotion through to Simple Face wipes, NARS Orgasm and beyond, looking at the formative role beauty plays in our lives. Considering which much-hyped beauty buys are worth the buzz, and who they might be best suited for, in Pretty Iconic Sali Hughes uses her witty, inclusive and discerning style to look at some of the most significant products in beauty - from treasured classics such as Chanel No 5, to life-changers such as Babyliss Big Hair, and the more recent releases from Charlotte Tilbury, Sunday Riley and others that are shaping the beauty industry today. Delving into the products that are simply the best at what they do, the inventions that changed our perception of beauty and the launches that completely broke the mould, Pretty Iconic is a treasure trove of knowledge from Britain's most trusted beauty writer.

Sali Hughes (Author), Sali Hughes (Narrator)

Audiobook

Brilliance and Fire: A Biography of Diamonds

"A diamond is forever." Who among us doesn't recognize this slogan and, with it, the fascination that diamonds hold in our collective imagination as emblems of royalty, glamor, and eternal love? Rachelle Bergstein's cultural biography illuminates the enticing, often surprising story of our society's enduring obsession with diamonds-and the people who have worked tirelessly to ensure their continued allure. Whether in the gilded ballrooms of New York City at the end of the nineteenth century or on the red carpets of today, diamonds have retained their coveted status throughout history. Along the way, they have also become our culture's abiding symbol of true love and marriage (with more than a little help from an advertising agency, hired to accomplish just that). From the South African mines where most diamonds have been sourced since the late 1890s to the companies that have fought to monopolize them; from the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Kanye West, who have dazzled in them, to the people behind the scenes who have carefully crafted our understanding of their value-Brilliance and Fire offers a glittering history of the world's most coveted gemstone and its greatest champions and most colorful enthusiasts.

Rachelle Bergstein (Author), Dara Rosenberg (Narrator)

Audiobook

You Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the Future

A compelling call to apply Buckminster Fuller's creative problem solving to present-day problems A self-professed "comprehensive anticipatory design scientist," the inventor Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was undoubtedly a visionary. Fuller's creations often bordered on the realm of science fiction, ranging from the freestanding geodesic dome to the three-wheel Dymaxion car to a bathroom requiring neither plumbing nor sewage. Yet in spite of his brilliant mind and lifelong devotion to serving mankind, Fuller's expansive ideas were often dismissed, and have faded from public memory since his death. You Belong to the Universe documents Fuller's six-decade quest to "make the world work for 100 percent of humanity." Critic and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats sets out to revive Fuller's unconventional practice of comprehensive anticipatory design, placing Fuller's philosophy in a modern context and dispelling much of the mythology surrounding Fuller's life. Keats argues that Fuller's life and ideas, namely doing "the most with the least," are now more relevant than ever as humanity struggles to meet the demands of an exploding world population with finite resources. Delving deeply into Buckminster Fuller's colorful world, Keats applies Fuller's most important concepts to present-day issues, arguing that his ideas are now not only feasible, but necessary. From transportation to climate change, urban design to education, You Belong to the Universe demonstrates that Fuller's holistic problem-solving techniques may be the only means of addressing some of the world's most pressing issues. Keats' timely book challenges each of us to become comprehensive anticipatory design scientists, providing the necessary tools for continuing Fuller's legacy of improving the world. "A wonderfully written and highly necessary book about one of the twentieh century's most enigmatic outliers."-Douglas Coupland, author and artist

Jonathon Keats (Author), Josh Bloomberg (Narrator)

Audiobook

Focus: The Secret, Sexy, Sometimes Sordid World of Fashion Photographers

Before Instagram was an art form, fashion photographers were pop culture royalty. From the postwar covers of Vogue until the triumph of the digital image, the fashion photographer sold not only clothes but ideals of beauty and fantasies of perfect lives. Even when they succumbed to temptation and excess, the very few photographers who rose to the top were artists above all. In his follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, Michael Gross probes the lives, hang-ups, and artistic triumphs of more than a dozen of fashion photography's greatest visionaries: Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Melvin Sokolsky, Bert Stern, David Bailey, Bill King, Gilles Bensimon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Corinne Day, Bob and Terry Richardson, and more. From Avedon's haute couture fantasies and telling portraits to Weber's sensual, intimate and heroic slices of life, and from Bob Richardson's provocations to his son Terry's transgressions, Gross takes listeners behind the scenes and reveals the revolutionary creative processes and fraught private passions of these visionary imagicians.

Michael Gross (Author), Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

Audiobook

Nostradamus Predictions For Future

Predictions are what people mostly believe in nowadays. Everywhere you tilt your face the only thing that you get to see is some new prediction taking place and people running over to it like there could be nothing as much possible as that particular thing. There are so many people out there who claim to know about what is going to happen next but most of them fails out at the time of results, though not all of them prove out to be really wrong e.g. Nostradamus. A person who was having that great insight to predict the future and almost everything which he said turned out to be true, not everything though.

Introbooks, Introbooks Team (Author), Andrea Giordani, Introbooks (Narrator)

Audiobook

One World Trade Center: Biography of the Building

The definitive book about One World Trade Center--the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere--by the author of the iconic and best-selling Skyscrapers. In hundreds of photographs, drawings, and plans-most never seen by the public-Judith Dupré chronicles the rise of America's most exciting and emotionally charged new skyscraper. One World Trade Center showcases the building's groundbreaking design and engineering, from the initial excavation to the final placement of the spire. Capturing the hope, resiliency, and pride of those who built it, the book is rich with in-depth explorations of the innovations, including a 360 degree view from the One World Observatory. Oversize and exquisite, this book is a must-have for all those invested in rebuilding Ground Zero or celebrating American architecture and ingenuity. ** Please contact Customer Service for additional documents.

Judith Dupre, Judith Dupré (Author), Judith Dupre, Judith Dupré (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Button Box: Lifting the Lid on Women's Lives

I used to love the rattle and whoosh of my grandma's buttons as they scattered from their Quality Street tin. An inlaid wooden chest the size of a shoe box holds Lynn Knight's button collection. A collection that has been passed down through three generations of women: a chunky sixties-era toggle from a favourite coat, three tiny pearl buttons from her mother's first dress after she was adopted as a baby, a jet button from a time of Victorian mourning. Each button tells a story. 'They change our view of the world and the world's view of us' said Virginia Woolf of clothes. The Button Box traces the story of women at home and in work from pre-First World War domesticity, through the first clerical girls in silk blouses, to the delights of beading and glamour in the thirties to short skirts and sexual liberation in the sixties.

Lynn Knight (Author), Patience Tomlinson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future

The cofounder of America Online and the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship shares a roadmap to success for future innovators.Steve Case was on the leading edge of the Internet revolution when he cofounded AOL in 1991. He was an entrepreneur in a business that hadn't even been invented, yet he saw how significantly his efforts could change not only America, but the world. In The Third Wave, Case uses his insights garnered from nearly four decades of working as an innovator, investor, and businessperson to chart a path for future visionaries. From his position as an investor in startups like Zipcar and LivingSocial, Case predicts the future of the economy and describes what he calls the "Third Wave of the Internet." AOL and other companies introduced early consumers to the Internet in the first wave; search giants such as Google and companies such as Apple have led us into the second wave, the app economy; and the third wave will be "the Internet of things," in which every experience, product, and service will be transacted online. Using his own experience, and examples from companies he's invested in, he lays out a vision for the future of success in a disrupted age.

Steve Case (Author), Steve Case (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World

What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire. What moves the world is what moves each of us: desire. Jewelry-which has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamour and success-has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. Masterfully weaving together pop science and history, Stoned breaks history into three categories-Want, Take, and Have-and explains what the diamond on your finger has to do with the GI Bill, why green-tinted jewelry has been exalted by so many cultures, why the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch were initially considered a fair trade, and how the French Revolution started over a coveted necklace. Studded with lively personalities and fascinating details, Stoned tells the remarkable story of our abiding desire for the rare and extraordinary.

Aja Raden (Author), Justine Eyre (Narrator)

Audiobook

Der Chirurg des Pharaos: Ägyptologie

In Kairo verrutscht Tutanchamuns Bart. Ein deutscher Restaurator macht die berühmte Goldmaske wieder heil - mit aberwitzigem Aufwand. So muss das sein. Besonders in Zeiten, da Barbaren das Kulturerbe der Welt angreifen. Dies ist die Vertonung des Artikels der SPIEGEL-Ausgabe 52/2015. Sie entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit der Deutschen Blindenstudienanstalt e.V.

Der Spiegel (Author), Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt E.V. (Narrator)

Audiobook

Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History

“Russia’s colorful history,” suggests American writer and Russian historian, Jennifer Eremeeva, “should ideally be experienced on a huge, 3D IMAX screen, with the surround sound booming and a jumbo bucket of popcorn in your lap.” In Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History, Eremeeva distills thirteen centuries of Russia’s complex history into entertaining chapters that guide the reader effortlessly from the emerging Russian state in the ninth century through the aftermath of the 2014 Annexation of Crimea. This is the perfect primer for those embarking on a visit to Russia or an exploration of the country’s rich literature and culture. The updated third edition includes access to extensive companion web pages, reading lists, and sightseeing suggestions to enhance readers’ exploration of the world’s largest country. Praise for Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia from readers: “After reading the book, I had a greater understanding and appreciation for the places and sights I saw and learned about on my trip.” “This is a great brief history of Russia! I was able to understand all of it and it was fascinating, not a dry history book at all. Makes me want to delve more into Russian history.” “A sometimes rollicking, always tongue-in-cheek examination of Russian/Soviet history (rarely a rollicking subject) by an American who has lived there as an insider for decades.”

Jennifer Eremeeva (Author), Jennifer Eremeeva (Narrator)

Audiobook

'Wir werden gewinnen': Frankreich

Die Attentäter von Paris zielten auf ein junges, lässiges Paris und meinten unser aller Alltag in der offenen Gesellschaft: Ein falscher Frühling beherrscht Paris im November, seit Wochen ist das Wetter mild, die Abende sind lau, die Straßen belebt, die Terrassen voll, als käme nicht bald der Winter. In leichten Jacken sitzen 80 000 Menschen unter freiem Himmel im Stade de France, als sich am vergangenen Freitag die heimische und die deutsche Fußball-Nationalmannschaft zu den Hymnen am Mittelkreis aufstellen. Die Marseillaise erklingt, das alte Kriegslied, Frankreichs Hymne: '... Gegen uns wurde der Tyrannei blutiges Banner erhoben! Hört ihr im Land das Brüllen der grausamen Krieger? Sie rücken uns auf den Leib, eure Söhne, eure Frauen zu köpfen!' Historische Verse, sie werden gleich auf grauenhafte Weise aktuell. Dies ist die Vertonung des Titelthemas der SPIEGEL-Ausgabe 48/2015. Sie entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit der Deutschen Blindenstudienanstalt e.V.

Der Spiegel (Author), Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt E.V. (Narrator)

Audiobook

Architecture & Design Audiobooks in Non-Fiction