'Elegant and multi-focal. Glorious!' Simon Garfield 'It will make you look at specs with fresh eyes' New Statesman 'Lively, engaging and admirably wide-ranging' The Times 'Fascinating' Observer The humble pair of glasses might just be one of the world's greatest inventions, allowing millions to see a world that might otherwise appear a blur. And yet how much do many of us really think about these things perched on the ends of our noses? Through the Looking Glasses traces the fascinating story of spectacles: from their inception as primitive visual aids for monkish scribes right through to today's designer eyewear and the augmented reality of Google Glass. There are encounters with ingenious medieval Italian glassmakers, myopic Renaissance rulers and spectacle-makers, as well as the silent movie star Harold Lloyd, the rock'n'roller Buddy Holly and the full-screen figure of Marilyn Monroe. This is a book about vision and the need for humanity to see clearly, and where the impulse to improve our eyesight has led us.

Build Rock-Solid Self-Worth While Finding Freedom and Fun Attractive woman, savvy career professional, devoted wife and mother, caring daughter — the list of roles women play is endless. We may have chosen and cherish these roles, but nevertheless, they may occasionally chafe. What lies behind these roles? FLAUNT! dives deep into how and why you got where you are and uses laughter, play, and storytelling to help you express your truest self with self-love, sass, and joy.