Australia’s wine history dates back almost 250 years, to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The first commercial wine region, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, was created a mere 40 years later, and by as early as the 1850s small amounts of wine were being exported to the UK. In the modern era, Australian wine became known for fortified wine styles modelled on Port and Sherry. These were the main wine styles consumed for several decades, but by the mid-1990s nearly all grapes were going into table wine and Australia was the sixth largest global exporter of wine. Vibrant, varietally expressive and affordable wines introduced new generations of drinkers to the joys of wine. The popularity of Australian wine has ebbed and flowed over the years but experimentation, innovation and the illumination of newer regions has created a quiet revolution, challenging preconceptions of what is possible.

In The Wines of Australia, sommelier Mark Davidson tastes his way round this new Australian wine world. European immigration was an important factor in the development of wine but it also had a dramatic and negative impact on the indigenous peoples, an issue that Davidson addresses in a chapter on history and culture, explaining how the wine industry is taking steps to involve First Nations peoples in grape growing and winemaking. The growing environment, including the critical question of climate change, is tackled, and today’s most important grape varieties, along with those that can take Australian wine into the future, are profiled. This is followed by a chapter explaining why the country is home to some of the oldest vines in the world. Every region is clearly delineated, its key producers introduced and their wines assessed. The Wines of Australia captures the character of one of the most exciting wine-producing countries on the planet.

Mie Olise Kjærgaard (b. 1974) conquers an artistic domain closely linked to the idea of the genius male painter: expressive, figurative, large-scale paintings. Composed of turbulent brushstrokes, her works on their huge canvases exude a wildness and power. Kjærgaard is utterly convincing in her adoption of the genre and translates the expressive force of gestural painting into a world of female experience. Her works depict active women in sportswear and flip-flops, their hair standing wildly on end. They ride mythical creatures, hang from the railings of ships, play a round of tennis, or hurtle through the neighbourhood on skateboards. Ferocious Expeditions brings together her works from recent years, accompanied by texts that give insight into the work of this Danish painter.

Munch’s Missing! Find the artist hidden in 12 vibrant illustrated scenes which are inspired by the artist’s life, and the themes in his art. Spot him on the hill where he famously heard that resounding scream; find him hidden on stage amongst actors performing an Ibsen play, and search him out in the forest near his home in Ekely. Every scene is jammed with artists and creatives who have been influenced by Munch.

While the magical illustrations by Celyn Brazier offer a playful introduction to the artist, they are a unique piece of art in themselves. Accompanying text opens up the stories behind the illustrations, and explores further Munch’s life and art, and the influence he had. 

This raucous art journey celebrates the startling relevance of Munch who brought us the selfie and liberated us to scream out!

More than other painters, the Impressionists wanted to shake off the dust of the studio, and swarmed the noisy streets of Paris, filling the cafés and living in garrets and humble little dwellings on the hill of Montmartre, which still seemed like the countryside at the time, its slopes covered with vineyards and vegetable gardens. Nor did they limit themselves to the city, planting their easels in the clearings of the forest of Fontainebleau, on the coast of Normandy, in the rustic villages in the Oise Valley and in Bougival and Argenteuil on the banks of the Seine. Like their Naturalist friends Zola and Maupassant, they liked to mix with the locals so they could experience the places directly, painting everywhere, even on a boat, like the one where Monet had his floating studio.

Sheffield is yet to be discovered. Were you aware that football’s first professional rule book was written in Sheffield, and that it is home to the oldest ground in professional use? Did you know that climbers the world over come to Stanage Edge for the challenges offered by one of the world’s most fearsome millstone grit escarpments? Did you know that the Arctic Monkeys grew up in Sheffield, and that you can see the room at Yellow Arch Studios where they rehearsed as schoolboys and cut their first album? Did you know that the steepest hill in the entire 2012 Tour de France is in Sheffield? Did you know that Sheffield’s craft breweries produce some of the finest beers in the world? Did you know that you can walk out of the centre of Sheffield, through parkland, and directly into open countryside? You need this book fast then, don’t you, you soft ‘aporth!

The long-awaited definitive work on master wood engraver Paul Landacre (1893–1963), a key figure of California modernism.

With his virtuosic prints of rolling California hills, classically inspired nudes, and natural and manmade forms — from a seashell to his own printing press — Paul Landacre elevated wood engraving to a high art form in twentieth-century America. Landacre’s ceaseless stylistic innovation placed his work in dialogue with California contemporaries like Edward Weston and Henrietta Shore; he was, in fact, central to an artistic milieu that has been described as a “small Renaissance, Southern California style.” It is fitting, too, that the velvety blacks and dazzling whites of Landacre’s prints can recall the images of the silver screen — for the artist’s rustic bungalow on a Los Angeles hill was but a stone’s throw from Hollywood, and his early patrons and supporters included such luminaries as the director Delmer Daves and the actress Kay Francis. This handsome two-volume set, illustrated with generously sized, high-quality reproductions, offers a definitive catalogue not only of Landacre’s individual wood engravings but also of his early linocuts, his celebrated book illustrations, and his experimental works in other media, including painting, drawing, and lithography. Yet this is much more than a catalogue raisonné — the fruit of more than 30 years of research, it brings to life the bohemian world in which the artist lived, and the rich cultural and artistic context of his work. Landacre’s prints are already prized by curators and collectors; this landmark publication will give him his rightful place in the firmament of American art.

The Lake District delights its visitors with a series of superlatives: England’s largest national park, highest mountain, deepest lakes and now a new World Heritage status. One of Britain’s best-loved and most visited locations unveils its secrets. This unusual guidebook explores 111 of the area’s most interesting places, it leaves the well-trodden paths to find the unknown: marvel at a stained glass window which inspired the American flag, let others flock to Hill Top while you explore Beatrix Potter’s holiday home, walk through ancient forest to talk to fairies and swim with immortal fish. Pause to wonder at a stunning lake where a President proposed, view a constellation of stars like nowhere else, find out why exotic spices are used in local cuisine.

Building on her experience following a several-week trip to Taliesin West, Kora Bürgi investigates Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and traces his work in the USA and Switzerland. The result of the field research is a presentation of his influence on the Central Swiss architectural landscape – a theme that has not been studied before. That influence ranges from partial copies of elements of Wright’s architecture to own interpretations of his architectural ideas.
This publication analyses 14 buildings in Central Switzerland – from the Heimbach school and the Villa Schnyder (both in Lucerne) to the residential buildings in Brodhubl (Canton of Obwalden) – including Wright’s influence on various architects, such as Josef Gasser, Lisbeth Sachs and Otto von Deschwanden. The author also sheds light on the distribution of Wright’s urban-planning principles and the future of his architecture in Switzerland.

Text in German.

This Boston guide is the newest addition to the internationally successful series The 500 Hidden Secrets. Like the other city guides in the series, it contains 500 places to visit or things to know. All of them are addresses or activities the author, savvy Boston local Natalia Ivanytsky, would recommend to friends visiting her hometown. A new feature are the two city walks included in the book, leading past a selection of the 500 secrets: a great way for first-time visitors to get to know the city.

This bulky selection of Boston tips is based only on the author’s personal opinions after thorough research: Natalia wandered through the many Boston streets and neighbourhoods accompanied by her dog, looking for the best places to eat, drink, shop, visit, dive into the cultural scene… She drank and ate her way through the best brunch spots, cocktail bars, and restaurants with family and friends, looking for the five best on-the-go sandwiches, the five tastiest street food trucks, the nicest shops for New England-inspired home décor or five urban oasis garden escapes. She also tells you which unofficial stops along the Freedom Trail are worthwhile, or where to find cool outdoor art installations. Her aim is to showcase Boston’s strong culture beyond sports and history, and to help you discover new, unexplored places.

Also available: The 500 Hidden Secrets of Chicago, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Seattle, The 500 Hidden Secrets of New York, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Tokyo, and many more. Discover the series at the500hiddensecrets.com

Have you ever seen a place that leaves you breathless… and with a million questions?! Well, check these out! Fifty of the world’s most mysterious places – those made by man and those gifted by nature. Places that stimulate curiosity and everyone’s truly innate desire to learn and know more!

Locations included: Stonehenge (Great Britain); Loch Ness (Great Britain); Fingal’s Cave (Great Britain); San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (Spain); Quinta da Regaleira (Portugal); Alchemical Caves (Italy); Gardens of Bomarzo (Italy); Carnac Stones (France); Paris Catacombs (France); Devil’s Bridge (Germany); Black Forest (Germany); Crooked Forest (Poland); Hessdalen Lights and Aurora Borealis (Scandinavia); Hoia Baciu Forest (Romania);
Krudum Hill (Czech Republic); Buda Castle Labyrinth (Hungary); Dargavs (Russia); Mammoth Bone Buildings (Ukraine and Russia); Tunnel of Love (Ukraine); Pamukkale Thermal Pools (Turkey); Giza Necropolis (Egypt); Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania); Fairy Circles (Namibia); Gates of Hell (Turkmenistan); Vaitheeswaran Koil (India); North Sentinel Island (India); Heizhugou Forest (China); Terracotta Army (China); Genghis Khan’s Grave (Mongolia); Mysterious Road (South Korea); Ise Shrine (Japan); Plain of Jars (Laos); Marine Bioluminescence (Maldives); Slope Point (New Zealand); Devil’s Sea (Pacific Ocean); Mariana Trench (Pacific Ocean); Abraham Lake (Canada); Bermuda Triangle (Atlantic Ocean); Area 51 (USA); Sailing Stones at Racetrack Playa (USA); Naica Mine (Mexico); Island of the Dead Dolls (Mexico); Snake Island (Brazil); Enchanted Well (Brazil); Catatumbo Lightning (Venezuela); Uyuni Salt Flat (Bolivia); El Ojo, the Rotating Island (Argentina); Nazca Lines (Peru); Machu Picchu (Peru); Easter Island (Chile).

Ages 8 plus.

The Lake District delights its visitors with a series of superlatives: England’s largest national park, highest mountain, deepest lakes and now a new World Heritage status. One of Britain’s best-loved and most visited locations unveils its secrets. This unusual guidebook explores 111 of the area’s most interesting places, it leaves the well-trodden paths to find the unknown: marvel at a stained glass window which inspired the American flag, let others flock to Hill Top while you explore Beatrix Potter’s holiday home, walk through ancient forest to talk to fairies and swim with immortal fish. Pause to wonder at a stunning lake where a President proposed, view a constellation of stars like nowhere else, find out why exotic spices are used in local cuisine.

If you enter an institutional mineralogical collection, you typically encounter glass cabinets organised by classification systems according to material properties. Yet, each mineral carries with it a history of extraction, destruction, (dis)possession, and global relations.
Transpositional Geologies localises such collections as indices of the afterlife of colonialism and proposes an evolving political geology, reading mineral specimens as objects of “culture” rather than of “nature.” Capturing his five-year artistic engagement and cultural collaboration in Namibia and Germany, Sascha Mikloweit brings together international voices from fields including anthropology, critical theory, geology, history, museum studies, philosophy, poetry, public administration—and the perspectives of boltwoodite, cerussite, or smithsonite.
Rock by rock, this exquisitely designed volume invites us to engage with a progressively nuanced reading of geology’s history: its epistemic violence, omissions, and racial regimes, and how the lasting residues of its colonial legacies continue to shape our present-day extractive realities.

The best-selling book about today’s greatest gridiron stars—completely revised and updated.

Stars of the NFL profiles 28 top players across the league, from established powerhouses like Jalen Hurts and Tyreek Hill to promising newcomers like C. J. Stroud and Jared Verse. Young readers will learn about these stars’ life stories, their unique styles of play, and their defining moments on the field. Full of colourful photos and key stats, Stars of the NFL is part of the Abbeville Sports series, which also includes Legends of the NFL (about the greatest players of the past), Stars of the NBA, and Stars of World Soccer.

Glideology, an invented word, is meant to evoke memories of gliding downhill on your bicycle as a child or sledding down a hill in the winter. Glideology represents an optimistic outlook for traffic for the near future. It anticipates that common-sense will take hold and urban public space will be improved to focus on the many different reasons that one travels; short local trips, medium-distance trips of 15 minutes or less, multi-modal options to travel offer an antidote to simply defaulting to taking the car to get some milk at the corner store because this is a learned behaviour that can be altered for a more sustainable and obvious options.

This book explores in a comic format the many shared experiences and feelings that go into commuting in urban areas and it looks to how the street can accommodate a multi-modal approach to sharing the laneways so that real options exist for the pedestrian. 

Blake’s masterpiece of printmaking comprises a series of 22 prints engraved in pure line without preliminary etching. Created in 1826, these were based on the artist’s watercolours of the same subject from 1806 (Morgan Library, New York) and 1821 (Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard). Unlike these watercolours, the prints have complex marginal decorations that comment on the biblical text. Ruskin remarked that the work ‘is of the highest rank in certain characters of imagination and expression; in the mode of obtaining certain effects of light it will also prove a very useful example to you. In expressing conditions of glaring and flickering light, Blake is greater than Rembrandt.’

“When one is tired of London, one is tired of life.” – Samuel Johnson London has long been a centre of the literary world. From Shakespeare to Amis, Byron to Blake, Plath, Thomas, Christie and Rowling; many of the greatest names in literature have made this metropolis their home. Writers’ London guides the reader through homes, bookshops, pubs and cemeteries, in search of where literary greats loved and lost, drank and died. Discover the Islington building where Joe Orton was murdered by his lover, the Soho pub where Dylan Thomas left his manuscript, the Chelsea hotel where Oscar Wilde was arrested, and the Bank of England where Kenneth Graham was shot at (and missed) three times. Gathering hundreds of famous and less-well-known anecdotes, this meticulously researched volume will entertain any lover of literature. Also in the series: Vinyl London ISBN 9781788840156 Rock ‘n’ Roll London ISBN 9781788840163 Art London ISBN 9781788840385 London Peculiars ISBN 9781851499182

The wee folk have returned! Uncover the mystery of who they are and why they are here in the first book of the Vinetrope Adventures. Following a young girl, Sara, who has recently lost her mom to cancer, Return of the Vinetropes tells the story of a remarkable fairy-like creature found in Sara’s back yard. Lucinda Vinetrope: born wise, full-grown, and all alone. She may only be 12 inches high, but her personality is huge! Her arrival signifies the return of the Vinetrope nation, but also the return of their evil counterparts, the Chargons and the Vinkali. Joined by a supporting cast of comedic characters, animal and human alike, Sara and Lucinda set off on their quest to find the other Vinetropes and protect their world from danger.

2018 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first international symposium of silver jewellery Jablonec ’68. Thanks to the liberalisation endeavours as part of the ‘Prague Spring’, European jewellery artists from East and West came together for a ‘summit’ at the invitation of the Czech artists’ association in Jablonec, northern Bohemia. On the guest list were such renowned names as Anton Cepka, Hermann Junger and Bruno Martinazzi – artists celebrated today as the founders of studio jewellery. The jewellery pieces that developed at that time have remained in the Muzeum skla a bizuterie in Jablonec nad Nisou and to this day have lost nothing of their exceptional and pioneering aura. This publication – which contains a reprint of the original catalogue from 1968 – makes these pieces accessible to a wider audience for the very first time. A document that in a wholly authentic way allows the reader to experience this unique historical moment in the history of the international studio jewellery scene.

Text in English and German.

Accompanies the exhibition at Die Neue Sammlung The Design Museum, Munich (DE), 10 March-3 June 2018.

“‘Globalization’, a commonly used word these days, is the reason of changing global landscapes. Larger firms buy small, authentic companies, the small companies that want to keep doing what they do, and don’t want to be bought by larger firms, struggle to compete, eventually they disappear. My view on this phenomenon is displayed in my first book Bus Stop. For decades, sons and daughters kept alive the bus company started by their mothers and fathers. These past 2 years I travelled through Belgium to document their activities, to feel the atmosphere on board and to show who they are. What’s evolving and what could be lost in a few years.” – Nick Claeskens. Text in English and Dutch.