“As an art critic, [Hickey] doesn’t do what most people want from art criticism. He doesn’t provide his readers with a neat intellectual framework through which to view everything they see, like a Clement Greenberg or a Michael Fried, and he doesn’t really do beautiful description either … Instead, Hickey gives you intricately structured argument and gorgeous prose … Reading him you want to forget that the art market is a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos between Ukrainian oligarchs and Qatari princesses … You want to be the thing you advocate; you want to ride the wave, mount the dais, and speak the truth.” – Los Angeles Review of Books
Arguably one of the most astute critics working today, Dave Hickey’s multi-decade career as a leading cultural commentator is characterised by his blend of high and mass culture and his fervent critique of the celebrity-driven culture of the 21st-century art world. Following his 2012 announcement of self-imposed exile from art criticism, this new body of essays once again questions and challenges the cultural status quo.
With his trademark humour, Hickey has declared that: ‘I miss being an elitist and not having to talk to idiots’ in a field that, he believes, is defined by the commoditisation of art and the self-referential tendencies of criticism itself. This new body of shorter essays by the author of Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy and The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty looks at more contemporary phenomena: super-collectors, the trope of the biennale and the loss of looking.

“An entrancing companion for wine lovers. Celebratory, discerning writing with all the variety and unexpectedness of the wines explored.”  — Michèle Roberts, author and Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia
“This book is about feeling, tasting and describing the beauty of wine, as well as understanding the intensity of emotion that wine can engender.” — Decanter Magazine

“So precise and dancing, so chiselled and so free, as complex and delicious as your favourite bottle of wine, you will enjoy the world of wine differently after reading through Jefford’s words.” — Pascaline Lepeltier on Instagram
“A new sort of literary gumption arrived on the scene with Andrew Jefford; a powerful blend of science and poetry. Here is a writer who does his interviews, delves deep into motives and methods, and then lets fly with whatever imagery he finds winging by.” Hugh Johnson (2019)

Poet, philosopher, author, radio presenter and journalist, Andrew Jefford lives in France; but buried deep in one wine country what does he miss most about the rest? The answer: “Drinking young port. It’s the wine drinker’s equivalent of zorbing, wing-walking, base-jumping … you won’t fully understand it unless you have tasted it young, in its ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ stage, when it comes hurtling out of the glass and puts the screamers on you…”

Andrew is the ideal companion for anyone wine-curious. In this collection of his essays, opinions and articles he shares his fascinating observations from half a century of discovery. For Andrew, wine should be listened to and admired, wherever it comes from; old-school pretentions turned on their head; style-points disdained; stellar prices dismissed; questions asked…

Experience the sights and sounds of the City of Lights like a true native with this expanded edition Bill Gillham has been visiting Paris for decades. For him, the pleasure is not in revisiting the tourist sights, but rather in immersing himself in a particular quartier, discovering little shops and bistros, exploring markets, parks, and local entertainment, and finding the quirks and particularities of the city’s day-to-day life. In this unique guidebook, Bill takes travellers to 21 of his favourite areas in Paris–some central, some suburban, all off the beaten track. Neglected or completely ignored by ordinary guide books, each of these locales has a purely individual, Parisian character and make superb bases for traditional sightseeing, and in particular an ideal way of seeing Paris with children. All the information about where to stay; how to get about; where to shop and eat; which museums, parks, playgrounds to not miss; and what to avoid is provided along with lush photographs that give a hint of the pleasures to be gleaned. All the information has been meticulously updated, and many sections have been enlarged and improved.

“A new sort of literary gumption arrived on the scene with Andrew Jefford; a powerful blend of science and poetry. Here is a writer who does his interviews, delves deep into motives and methods, and then lets fly with whatever imagery he finds winging by.” Hugh Johnson (2019)

Poet, philosopher, author, radio presenter and journalist, Andrew Jefford lives in France; but buried deep in one wine country what does he miss most about the rest? The answer: “Drinking young port. It’s the wine drinker’s equivalent of zorbing, wing-walking, base-jumping … you won’t fully understand it unless you have tasted it young, in its ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ stage, when it comes hurtling out of the glass and puts the screamers on you…”

Andrew is the ideal companion for anyone wine-curious. In this collection of his essays, opinions and articles he shares his fascinating observations from half a century of discovery. For Andrew, wine should be listened to and admired, wherever it comes from; old-school pretensions turned on their head; style-points disdained; stellar prices dismissed; questions asked…

The history of wine production in Greece dates back more than four millennia, yet for many consumers and aficionados Greek wine is still synonymous with the retsina they drank in tavernas as tourists. Here, Master of Wine Konstantinos Lazarakis argues that to dismiss Greek wine in this way today is to miss out on an array of varied and vibrant wines – even retsina, in the hands of boutique producers, has become a drink worthy of a second chance.
From the foothills of Mount Olympus to the plain of Thessaly in Central Greece and scattered across the vast number of islands, each of Greece’s vineyards has its own challenges, history and varieties. Yet terroir, in Greece, goes far beyond soil-types and weather conditions – it emanates from the culture of the country and the spirit of a people whose ancestors even had a god for wine.
The wines of Greece begins with a summary of Greece’s wine history, geography and grape varieties. The many responses of vine growers and winemakers to the land have created a host of different wines – sweet wines from Samos, the famed Malvasia from the Peloponnese and new, surprising wines from oenological innovators throughout the country. It is to the work of these winemakers that the bulk of the book is dedicated; Lazarakis has tirelessly explored Greece’s 700 wineries and here focuses on some of the most inventive producers and interesting wines available.
Greek wine is on the brink of a new era; anybody curious to rediscover a lost gem of winemaking will have their enthusiasm charged by this lovingly written book.

How did the Honorable Miss E. St. Leger become a Freemason? Did Lord Byron meet a hippopotamus, or was it only a tapir? Whence the popular prejudice against redheads?

These were among the topics discussed in the pages of Notes and Queries, a weekly magazine founded in London in 1849 as “a medium of inter-communication for literary men, artists, antiquaries, genealogists, etc.” Its motto was “When found, make a note of”—a saying of Captain Cuttle, the hook-handed old salt of Dickens’s Dombey and Son. Some subscribers to Notes and Queries contributed brief notes on curious facts they had uncovered; other sent in arcane queries to be answered. The result was rather like an erudite Internet discussion board, complete with its flame wars and trolls.

This book anthologises the most interesting exchanges from the First Series of Notes and Queries (1849–55). Here, ordered by subject—with judicious footnotes, of course—are delightfully pedantic remarks on the daily life and amusements of olden times, the doings of faeries, revolting folk remedies, strange forgotten, poetry good and bad, and oddities of natural history, among many other things. Also included is a selection of advertisements from the magazine, for such products as Grosjean’s Celebrated Trowsers, Rimmel’s Toilet Vinegar (good for several purposes), and the Rev. Edmund Saul Dixon’s treatise on Ornamental and Domestic Poultry: Their History and Management.

Original drawings add an extra touch of humour throughout, and a lively introduction describes the history and workings of Notes and Queries. Full of useless information and Victorian fustiness, Captain Cuttle’s Mailbag will fascinate trivia buffs and time travellers alike.

Learn how to craft a powerful growth strategy, from defining your vision to outmanoeuvering competitors, and from leveraging technology to optimising your marketing and sales funnel. Delve into critical chapters that cover everything from foundational growth principles to advanced tactics in marketing, financial management, and organisational development. Benefit from expert advice on navigating acquisitions, entering new markets, and fostering a company culture that champions growth as a mindset. Equip yourself with the knowledge to manage financial risks, drive customer engagement, and maximise your resources through data-driven decision-making. Designed for ambitious entrepreneurs and seasoned executives alike, this guide is your roadmap to sustainable success and industry leadership. Whether you’re looking to refine your approach or transform your business model, Growth Strategy offers the guidance, insights, perspective, and inspiration to thrive in a competitive marketplace. Don’t miss out on this essential resource for anyone looking to take their business to new heights.

In the context of architecture and real estate, the value of design—be it financial or social value—remains largely unmeasured, overlooked, and inadequately researched. By failing to acknowledge the potential of design, we miss opportunities to address the wide-ranging social and sustainability challenges at play today. This book acts as a platform to bridge the gap between design and finance, using empirical research to dissect design into measurable features through data-driven methodologies, with New York City serving as the experimental research site. Novel analytical tools such as AI, machine learning, and natural language processing, along with new forms of data like anonymised mobile phone data, social media data, and image data, unlock new dimensions for gauging the impact of previously immeasurable design elements of the built environment on human behaviours. These novel measurements, when integrated into real estate valuation models, establish a financial benchmark for design, catalysing a shift in the industry’s perspective on the intrinsic worth of design and ensuring that future projects properly account for the qualitative impact of design on economic value and social benefits. As we uncover and quantify the inherent value of design, it becomes possible to persuade key stakeholders—real estate developers, investors, and policy-makers—about the significant returns of thoughtful, sustainable, and human-centric design strategies. In essence, we aim to explore how the amalgamation of design and finance via empirical research and innovative data-driven methodologies can lead to a more integrated and holistic valuation practice. 

“…one book captures it all, featuring over 100 artists in an unprecedented archive of photographs and exclusive commentary that pulls back the velvet rope on one of music history’s most misunderstood decades.” — Florida Weekly

“Adding even more sparkle than a disco ball are the dozens of photos of the era’s biggest acts.” — Newsday

“If you’re a fan of 1970s-era dance music, don’t miss the irresistible new book by Christian John Wikane and Alice Harris, …”— The Washington Blade

A Night at the Disco is a celebration of groundbreaking dance music from 1970–’79. An unprecedented collection of photographs of more than 100 artists, illuminating the styles and sounds from a decade that sparked a global phenomenon in music and culture. Exclusive comments from Donna Summer, Barry Gibb, Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder, founding members of CHIC, Labelle, The Trammps, Village People, Earth, Wind & Fire, and dozens more artists, songwriters and producers, offering fascinating insights that tell the stories behind the beats. From underground New York clubs to discothèques across the globe, A Night at the Disco illustrates how artists spanning soul, pop, disco, funk, jazz and rock defined nightlife during the 1970s and influenced popular music to the present day.

With a foreword by Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire, this is a real treat for music, dance and disco fans everywhere.

Dive into the bustling city of Copenhagen.

With the New Mags City Guide, you can make the most of your time, whether you’re seeking a great meal, an inspiring hotel stay, a perfect cup of coffee, or an unexpected art experience. The New Mags City Guide offers an updated selection of the best hotels, restaurants, bar, coffee shops, retail concepts, and cultural landmarks.

Copenhagen is the quintessence of cool, where history meets modern lifestyle. You’ll never run out of things to do, and you’ll most likely leave the city full of impressions, yet still feel a bit unfulfilled. But that’s Copenhagen where FOMO isn’t just a feeling, it’s practically a chronic condition.

Dive into the bustling city of Stockholm.

With the New Mags City Guide, you can make the most of your time, whether you’re seeking a great meal an inspiring hotel stay, a perfect cup of coffee, or an unexpected art experience. The New Mags City Guide offers an updated, handpicked selection of the best hotels, restaurants, bar, coffee shops, retail concepts, and cultural landmarks.

Surrounded by 30,000 islands that form the archipelago, Stockholm is undeniably attractive but can be a little hard to get—in the best possible way. Take your time exploring the city, get under its skin, let it unfold, and you’ll be richly rewarded. With this guide in hand, Stockholm won’t let you down.

Dive into the enchanting city of Paris. With the New Mags City Guide, you can make the most of your time, whether you’re seeking a memorable meal, a stylish hotel stay, the perfect croissant, or an unexpected encounter with art. The New Mags City Guide offers a curated selection of the best hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, retail concepts, and cultural landmarks. Paris is the epitome of elegance, where timeless charm meets cutting-edge creativity. You’ll never run out of things to see, taste, and experience—and yet you’ll likely leave craving more. Because that’s Paris: a city where FOMO isn’t just real, it’s part of the magic.

With the New Mags City Guide, you can make the most of your time, whether you’re chasing a great meal, a bold new art experience, a design-driven hotel, or a late-night bar that never seems to close. The guide features a curated selection of the best hotels, restaurants, cafés, shops, and cultural landmarks — all reflecting Berlin’s raw energy and constant reinvention.

Berlin is a city like no other — layered with history, shaped by creativity, and driven by freedom. From underground galleries to Michelin-starred kitchens, every corner hums with possibility. You’ll leave inspired, maybe a little restless, and already planning your return. Because in Berlin, the story is never finished — it’s always being rewritten.

With the New Mags City Guide, you can make the most of your time, whether you’re searching for a refined meal, a hidden design gem, an inspiring hotel, or the perfect espresso between fashion shows. The guide presents a carefully curated selection of the best hotels, restaurants, cafés, boutiques, galleries, and cultural landmarks — all reflecting Milan’s effortless sophistication.

Milan is Italy’s beating creative heart — where fashion, architecture, and gastronomy meet in perfect harmony. From historic palazzos to contemporary design studios, every street exudes style and intention. You’ll leave inspired, a little dazzled, and perhaps just a touch envious. Because in Milan, beauty isn’t a luxury — it’s a way of life.

Jeffrey Sun travelled the world collecting nearly 7,000 hats and hat-related pieces. Amassing these beautiful creations made him realise that collecting is not just about preserving the past, but about collecting designs from the present for the future. It is this belief that led Sun to curate the 101 creations in this book, celebrating top headwear designers from around the world. The result is a celebration of the art and craft of millinery through one man’s passion for hats, his dedication to collecting, and his vision for connecting headwear designers across cultures and continents.

“a well-written, well-referenced and well-illustrated book. It provides a valuable addition to the literature and our understanding of a previously little-researched facet of the industrial midlands” British Art Journal
“Cataloguers now have an impressive volume of new information to draw on when describing anything from a simple tea tray to those suites of papier mâché furniture which remain as impressive today as when they dazzled visitors at the great international exhibitions of the 19th century” Antiques Trade Gazette.
As one of the few decorative arts about which little has been written, japanning is today fraught with misunderstandings. And yet, in its heyday, the japanning industry attracted important commissions from prestigious designers such as Robert Adam, and orders from fashionable society across Europe and beyond. This book is a long overdue history of the industry which centred on three towns in the English midlands: Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Bilston. It is as much about the workers, their skills, and the factories and workshops in which they laboured, as it is about the goods they made. It tells of matters of taste and criticism, and of how an industry which continued to rely so heavily upon hand labour in the machine age reached its natural end in the 1880s with a few factories lingering into the late 1930s. Richly illustrated, it includes photographs of mostly marked, or well-documented, examples of japanned tin and papier mâché against which readers may compare – and perhaps identify – unmarked specimens. Japanned Papier Mâché and Tinware draws predominantly upon contemporary sources: printed, manuscript and typescript documents, and, for the period leading up to the closure of the last factories in the 1930s, the author was able to draw on verbal accounts of eyewitnesses. With a chapter on japanners in London, other European centres, and in the United States, together with a directory of japan artists and decorators, this closely researched and comprehensive book is the reference work for collectors, dealers and enthusiasts alike. Contents: From Imitation to Innovation; Enter the Dragon!; The Lion of the District; Japanning & Decorating; Not a Bed of Roses!; Clever Accidents?; Decline of the Midlands Japanning Industry; The Birmingham Japanners; The Wolverhampton Japanners; The Bilston Japanners; Japanners in London and Oxford; Products; Other Western Japanning Centres; Appendices.

The extraordinary life of Barbara Cartlidge (b. 1922 in Berlin) – influential gallerist, curator, jewellery artist and author – together with the history of her legendary Electrum Gallery, which she founded in 1971 with Ralph Turner in London, are documented for the first time in a single publication. Pioneers and colleagues as well as around seventy internationally renowned artists of the gallery all have their say and, in anecdotes and recollections, countless illustrations and hitherto unpublished images, tell of a strong and resolute woman and the significance of her gallery as a promoter and platform for the understanding of contemporary art jewellery. Particular attention is paid to the life of Barbara Cartlidge, who fled from Germany in 1938. For over fifty years she was a driving force in what she described as the ‘the brotherhood of jewellers who make modern and thought-provoking jewellery all over the world’.

Austin Cooper was by chance of birth a Canadian but built his career as a commercial artist in London. Art-educated in Wales and Scotland, he became, in the inter-war years, one of the most highly-respected poster artist in the United Kingdom – one of L.N.E.R’s ‘elite’ five, his name comparable to that of McKnight Kauffer for work for London Transport, and a contributor to Post Office posters for some ten years. He was to become the Principal of the distinguished Reimann School for its short life in London just prior to WWII. He then virtually disappeared from the commercial art world, leading a reclusive life in a frustrated attempt to build a belated career as a ‘fine’ artist. His ‘Making a Poster’ book is as valid in its advice now as when it was written in 1938.

Shim-Sutcliffe’s masterful work at Point William intertwines landscape and architecture with ancient rock and water reshaping and reimagining a site on the Canadian Shield over two decades. Found conditions and new buildings are interwoven and choreographed to create a rich spatial experience moving between inside and out. Kenneth Frampton provides an insightful introduction with selected images and his own sketches framing a way of seeing Point William for the reader. Michael Webb’s provocative interview with Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe describes their evolving vision for Point William and their two-decade journey towards its realisation. Acclaimed photographers Ed Burtynsky, James Dow and Scott Norsworthy contribute through their powerful images capturing the spirit of Point William through the seasons and over time.

The great World’s Fairs and Expositions staged around the world since the mid-19th century were among the largest and most dramatic cultural events ever staged. In both beneficial and detrimental ways, they affected the lives of tens of millions of people. Fair World tells the story of these extraordinary exhibitions from the Victorian period to the present day.

On Charles II’s restoration to the throne in 1660, four of his supporters were provided with plots of land in a leafy suburb of London, on which to build their extravagant town palaces. The only one to survive – built for the poet and courtier Sir John Denham and now situated in the heart of Piccadilly – was to become the home of the Royal Academy of Arts, its exhibitions and its Schools. This important study charts the history of the estate through its various owners, including the 3rd Earl of Burlington, who gave the house not only its name but also its distinctive and influential architecture. In his day, the house was host to leading scholars and celebrities, who met within Burlington’s cutting-edge creation, which remains an unparalleled exemplar of the Palladian style in England. Former Director of Collections at the RA, Nicholas Savage examines 350 years of social and architectural history, as well as revealing the next phase in the life of the estate, as the Royal Academy opens up Burlington House as never before in an exciting redevelopment led by Sir David Chipperfield CBE RA to celebrate the institution’s 250th anniversary.

City Lust is a timely dialogue between words and images about a crucial moment in our recent history: the apotheosis of globalisation and its current unravelling. In this book, Charlie Koolhaas – an artist, photographer, and writer – takes us to London, Guangzhou, Lagos, Dubai, and Houston, cities in which she has either lived or worked. Her personal and humorous account explores the rapid changes taking place in these culturally vastly different metropolises that are being united by the influences of global trade and the evolution of a shared global culture. A captivating combination of photographic documentary and written testimony, City Lust portrays a global landscape that contradicts the current pessimism to reveal unexpected creativities, connections, and collective references that emerge despite huge global and economic divides.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the independent community media and various youth movements across Europe inspired and abetted each other. The young activists discovered the video tape as a medium and as a means to express their protesting mood and concerns. The easily produced moving images in videos soon also became a weapon in the political and communication fights for the autonomous culture spaces the movement demanded in many countries. Videos were participative productions, made almost in real time and fast. This appropriation of video technology as a means of two-way communication between sender and recipient also proved a key step towards the digital age. Today, consumers, citizens, and professionals not only receive moving images and audio documents, anyone almost anywhere can produce and broadcast such pieces at no expense. The young activist-directors of the 1970s and 1980s went beyond dreaming of such a development. They explored it and experimented within small networks. Rebel Video portrays protagonists of this activist movement in London, Basel, Berne, Lausanne, and Zurich. It documents which topics and concerns these creative rowdies picked up and the lasting effect their work has had up to today. Richly illustrated and completed with brief essays by expert authors on specific aspects of film documentary and video art, the book demonstrates and illuminates the significance and manifold facets of the community media movement.