I will discuss how coherent electromagnetic radiation at infrared and TeraHertz frequencies can be used to drive collective excitations in complex solids. Important examples involve the nonlinear control of the crystal lattice, to induce atomic-structural deformations often not possible in equilibrium, and have been used by our group to induce interesting collective states at high temperatures, including magnetic order, ferroelectricity, topological phenomena and non-equilibrium superconductivity.