In this lecture, I will discuss how coherent electromagnetic radiation at infrared and TeraHertz frequencies can be used to drive coherently and to large amplitudes collective excitations in solids. The nonlinear cooperative response is largely unexplored and can yield new types functional control. I will for example discuss experiments in which superconducting fluctuations can be amplified by light at temperatures higher than the thermodynamic transition temperature. I will also discuss how X-ray Free Electron Lasers are integral to this work, and how they can be used to sample the dynamical evolution of crystal lattices and of other microscopic parameters in time.