What should you do at Christmas? In Edvard Munch’s work "Christmas in the Brothel," the artist depicts himself asleep from the effects of alcohol, while the Madame reads a book. What are the links between Stalin and the artist Rosso Fiorentino? What did Gauguin imply when he painted a copy of Milton's "Paradise Lost" into a portrait of a friend? How did a chance encounter at Unter den Linden make the young owner of the "Red Book" famous? Was it true that no one had ever seen Picasso with a book in his hand? And why were the girls from Cumberland reading the "Modern Lover" in a portrait commissioned by Romney? Thousands of remarkable works include books in their thematic material. This companion research first asks 'what is a book?'; explores the collaborative relationship between the development of books and the emergence of the contemporary idea of the artist's role; presents and interprets the work of many of the greatest artists of the last five hundred years; and explains how and why books became the most recurring feature of our cultural life and, to a large extent, our daily existence. These paintings connect us with centuries of lived experience: religious systems, symbols of all kinds, education, shifting standards of transport, gender roles, social status, romance, children’s imagination, literary life, sex, friendship, civilized cleansing, professional competence, scientific discovery, aids to rest, aids to reflectiveness, danger… books tell us about ourselves and have earned their place in life – and art – through the centuries.