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Space City. Bayou City. Hustletown. Clutch City. Crush City. What’s the story behind all these nicknames? 111 Places in Houston That You Must Not Miss is your guide to the hidden stories behind the city’s monikers, stereotypes, and statistics. As America’s most diverse city, this book provides 111 different ways to explore Htown.
This illustrated guidebook is a readable tour of places representing the distinct personalities that make up the population of the nation’s fourth largest city. Traverse Houston’s massive landscape of strip malls and interstates, and you will find a city that not only embraces diversity, but transforms it into its own culture, where Hindu temples take up office space, an enterprising Vietnamese jeweler supplies the hip hop scene with bling, and one man’s mission to cover his house in beer cans is now a museum.
Whether you’re a native Houstonian or a newcomer, this book serves as both a good read and a resource for getting to know the city – one unique place at a time.

Often called the ‘Heart of the Midlands’, Nottingham has given the world Robin Hood, Raleigh bikes, John Player cigarettes and Boots the chemists – and it was here that Ibuprofen first saw the light of a petri dish to the benefit of a million hangovers. As if that wasn’t enough, Alan Sillitoe and D. H. Lawrence went to school here, Lord Byron’s ancestral pile is just on the city’s outskirts, and it was here that King Charles I raised his battle standard at the start of the English Civil War – though precious few rallied to the cause. Local heroes include the cantankerous Brian Clough, who led Nottingham Forest Football Club to a pair of European Cups, the fast bowler Harold Larwood, who famously bowled Donald Bradman during the Body Line Ashes of the 1930s, and the charismatic William Booth, who founded a worldwide movement, the Salvation Army.

Despite all this and much more, Nottingham wears its charms lightly, avoiding the tourist crowds, but this fascinating city has much to offer – and we have selected 111 Places to intrigue, amuse and illuminate.   

Northumberland is the ‘Land of the Far Horizon’ and England’s most northerly county. It was once a place of industrial innovation and manufacturing, literally fuelled by the coal brought up from its depths. Now Northumberland is a quieter place, loved by residents and visitors alike for its rolling hills and long, sandy beaches, as well as its charming towns and villages.

With this book in hand, meet Grace Darling, a Victorian heroine who took to storm-tossed seas to help rescue survivors of a terrible shipwreck; visit Amble, the ‘Friendliest Port’, and discover its connection to the Mauretania, once the fastest passenger ship to sail the Atlantic; and take in Turner’s View, an atmospheric stretch of coastline that was a lifelong inspiration to Britain’s greatest landscape painter.

You can also take a walk to the top of Cheviot, the county’s highest mountain and what was once a massive and very active volcano; and then top it off in the tranquil setting of St Cuthbert’s Island, where the eponymous saint went to get away from the strangely hectic whirl of monastic life.

Written by a proud northerner, this book will help you discover the more offbeat corners of Northumberland, and appreciate its many treasures.

Glasgow was once known as the Second City of the British Empire – the powerhouse of the industrial revolution, a great port and merchant city whose architectural and cultural magnificence hid a darker side of urban poverty and squalor. Today the heavy industry is long gone, and 21st-century Glasgow is comfortable in its role as a smaller, cleaner, greener city, a vibrant and stylish center for the arts and learning, now even more friendly and culturally diverse. With a wealth of insider’s local knowledge and engaging anecdotes, 111 Places in Glasgow That You Shouldn’t Miss will guide you round a huge variety of intriguing sights, unique venues and surprising corners of this great city, helping you understand how the people made Glasgow and how Glasgow made its people.

London is full of strange and beautiful sights. It is a place for traditions and rebels, for the establishment and every alternative subculture. This book celebrates the diversity of the city. It invites you to see Little Ben or the fake 10 Downing Street, and answers both conventional and unusual questions. What, apart from Rolling Scones, will you see at God’s Own Junkyard? Where does an old-school gentleman buy his wine and umbrellas? Why did Robbie Williams feud with his next-door neighbor? How has the city commemorated the Queen Mother and Princess Diana? In which park do 100-year-old naked ladies cavort on the banks of the Thames? Where did Lenin and Julian Assange campaign for their beliefs? And which bridge rolls itself up?

This richly illustrated volume, produced by Uzbek publisher Dinara & Co. in partnership with Kulturalis, explores the enduring legacy and contemporary revival of miniature painting in Uzbekistan. Highlighting the work of acclaimed Bukharan master Davlat Toshev, the book guides readers through the intricate brushwork, symbolism and narrative depth of his recent creations. By situating Toshev’s oeuvre within the broader context of Islamic art and the cultural memory of the region, the book demonstrates how these seemingly fantastical images resonate with contemporary audiences. For art lovers, collectors and cultural historians alike, this publication is both a celebration of Uzbekistan’s artistic heritage and a key to unlocking the relevance of miniature painting in modern times.

Copenhagen. One of northern Europe’s chicest cities. A marvel of Scandinavian style, blending the traditional with the modern and the minimalist. Denmark’s capital is a burgeoning design hub, an increasingly popular destination for fans of modern architecture and an unexpected fashion hotspot with a proud ethos of sustainability and its own major biannual fashion week.

Copenhagen. In Fashion is an unmissable opportunity to discover the city’s historic harbor, squares, islands and islets, experience the warmth of the hygge lifestyle and find inspiration in the composed and impossibly urbane Scandi outfits without leaving your own home.

From Paris and New York to more surprising hotbeds of style, the In Fashion series invites you to discover the most fashionable locations in the world. Covering high fashion, classic street style and trendsetting people, as well as interiors, streets, shops and more, each beautifully presented volume offers a unique glimpse into the clothes and fashion culture of a distinct and remarkable destination.

Perfect for fans of fashion and travel.

London is the most diverse of all the great fashion megacities, drawing from a vast palette of cultures, artistic disciplines and historical references to produce some of the world’s best loved and most influential trends. From the flappers of the 1920s to the swinging ’60s, from punks and new romantics to the 21st-century modes of sustainability and representation, the storied British capital has made a habit of crystalizing youthful rebellion by wearing its identity on the outside. Home to Vivienne Westwood, Burberry and Palace, iconic stores like Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as some of the most famous fashion streets on Earth, including Carnaby Street, King’s Road, Savile Row and many more.

London. In Fashion is an unmissable opportunity to walk among London’s trendsetters without leaving your own home.

From Paris and New York to more surprising hotbeds of style, the In Fashion series invites you to discover the most fashionable locations in the world. Covering high fashion, classic street style and trendsetting people, as well as interiors, streets, shops and more, each beautifully presented volume offers a unique glimpse into the clothes and fashion culture of a distinct and remarkable destination.

Perfect for fans of fashion and travel.

A stroll through a maze of winding streets lined with bright white houses, where you might stumble upon little cafés or art galleries, is often the highlight of a holiday. In Villages in White, travel writer Léa Teuscher highlights some of the most remarkable whitewashed destinations around the world. From classics like Santorini to hidden gems like Loutro, these pages will take you to the most spectacular places washed in the lightest hue. Find out what makes each village unique and catch a glimpse of what it’s like to live there. A must-have for globetrotters who want it all: beauty, history, and creativity.

San Francisco: the home of hills and valleys, of dreamers and trailblazers, of hippies and hipsters. From the gold rush to the Golden Gate, the City by the Bay has always basked in the glow of its colorful and celebrated history and world-renowned landmarks. But for those who live and love on this compact, seven-mile by seven-mile metropolis, San Francisco is a treasure trove of unusual neighborhood sights and places that sparkle with the allure of hidden pleasures and local lore. Discover a stairway that transports you from the depths of the ocean to the heights of outer space; take a spin class amidst the grand elegance of a repurposed 1920s movie palace; or slide down a century-old sundial that sits at the center of what was once California’s first racetrack for cars. This is the real San Francisco. Strung together, the 111 experiences gathered here tell the B-side story of the city once romantically known as the Paris of the West.

England’s first capital, largest cathedral, and oldest college: Winchester is a city where ancient walls murmur stories of proud warriors and Wintonian pioneers, of brutal crimes and glorious successes.

Whether you’ve called Winchester home for years, recently moved here, or are just visiting for a short time, these 111 places will captivate, enchant, and amaze you. Try the sparkling wine which rivals champagne or the renowned striped ice cream and visit Europe’s first wasabi grower. Feel a shiver in the Red Room, cross the bridge that predicts the weather and find the garden built by a spy. Amble where Russel Crowe rode and the real Countess of Downton Abbey resides. Defend the city against a Viking invasion and meet the policeman who solved the first-ever train murder.

Amid it all, you’ll be immersed in Winchester’s stunning architecture, lively atmosphere, and warm energy – a city no longer ruling a kingdom, yet still brimming with power, scandal, secrets, and life.

Discover the Finger Lakes: 4,692 square miles of Upstate New York packed with history, vineyards, waterfalls, gorges, and hidden treasures.

111 Places in the Finger Lakes That You Must Not Miss takes you off the beaten path to the odd, the unexpected, and the downright fascinating. Explore stories, legends, and secrets most visitors never find. Visit the place where Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn came to life. Spin on the world’s fastest carousel. Stand beneath waterfalls taller than Niagara. Tour a haunted winery. Browse a collection of brains. Try your hand at circus school. Wander a garden inspired by Claude Monet. Visit the Dalai Lama’s North American retreat.

The Finger Lakes have been called magical, creative, historic, and breathtaking – and you’ll see why. Adventure, mystery, and wonder await at every turn.

Discover Hastings and Rye, the heart of 1066 Country, where history, charm, and the sea collide. Hastings, an ancient fishing mecca still home to Europe’s largest beach-launched fleet, has long carved its own path along the Channel coast – from the castle-capped Old Town to the vibrant, artistic streets of St Leonards. Walk where William the Conqueror landed, and explore the nearby town of Battle, where England’s most famous clash reshaped a nation.

Beyond Hastings, this region brims with contrasting delights: the medieval jewel of Rye, one of England’s loveliest towns, quirky Dungeness with its shingle expanse, Bexhill’s understated charm, and timeless back-country villages.

From sunken forests older than the Pyramids to Roman relics, forgotten castles, wartime memories, eccentric locals, and modern creatives, the stories here span millennia. Rich, evocative, and endlessly surprising, this guide invites you to explore the landscapes, history, and culture that make Hastings and Rye utterly unforgettable. Dive in and experience it all.

There’s more to Washington, D.C. than politics. Beyond the suits and monuments, the nation’s capital is a playground for kids of all ages. Where else can you find a hidden slide inside a public library or rent paddle boats surrounded by iconic memorials and monuments? Fairy gardens, dinosaur parks, swings, and themed playgrounds pop up everywhere, offering adventures at every turn. Kids can also taste the world without leaving town – empanadas from Latin America, Asian-inspired ice cream, and bustling food halls.

Museums aren’t just for grown-ups either: create at the Hirshhorn’s art carts or join a scavenger hunt at the National Portrait Gallery. Families can hike Civil War-era trails, cheer at Nationals Park, or step inside a mansion with 80 secret doors once visited by Rosa Parks. Washington, D.C., is a place where kids can discover history, science, art, and more – all while having a blast and making lasting memories. Explore these 111 kid-friendly spots and uncover a city that’s fun, surprising, and unforgettable.

Flowers and plants are a staple of British life. Nearly 40% of our population considers themselves to be gardeners, making this and associated activities a national pursuit. And yet, while we hold endless discussions over how to seed, grow, and disseminate our cherished plants, we still known relatively little about how they were collected, exchanged, circulated, identified, and modified, and how much art has shaped our understanding and appreciation of them. This publication, designed to accompany the homonymous exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, explores some of these plant stories through highlights from Oxford’s collections. Bringing together historical and scientific expertise, art and material culture, traditional and contemporary artworks, this book ultimately reflects on the long-lasting impact of flora on our society – and of us on it.  

Changes of materials and concepts used in modern furniture design are closely related to ancient Chinese furniture design. This book expounds the content that has to do with “Chinoiserie” in the history of furniture. “Chinoiserie” here refers to the form, function and design principle of traditional Chinese furniture. By sorting out the part of modern furniture design related to Chinoiserie, it is concluded that the Chinese furniture system is one of the two major systems in the development of the global furniture system, and the emergence and maturity of the Chinese furniture system was almost independent, and completely dominated by social functionalism.

This book systematically discusses the decorative feature, beauty in form and development of traditional Chinese furniture, and elaborates on the modern design theory contained in traditional Chinese furniture, its influence on Western design and the development of furniture in the world. 

New York, New York – a crazy quilt of evolving neighborhoods, trends, and tastes, and home to natives and newcomers of every nationality, ethnicity, and outlook. New York City’s history and grand ambitions live in every street, park, and hidden alleyway. This unusual guidebook invites the adventurous and curious to explore a wildly diverse selection of little-known places, including: a trapeze school, a giant Buddha in a former porno theater, a Coney Island sideshow, Louis Armstrong’s home, a Central Park croquet court, a Gatsby-era speakeasy, and a secret balcony where slaves worshiped 200 years ago. Play chess with the masters on a Midtown office-tower wall; have a pint at a legendary prizefighter’s hangout in Soho; whisper messages across a crowded train station. Unexpected and quirky, most of these destinations are so under-the-radar they will astound even longtime New Yorkers who thought they knew it all!

Revised and updated edition.

London is full of strange and beautiful sights. It is a place for traditions and rebels, for the establishment and every alternative subculture. This book celebrates the diversity of the city. It invites you to see Little Ben or the fake 10 Downing Street, and answers both conventional and unusual questions. What, apart from Rolling Scones, will you see at God’s Own Junkyard? Where does an old-school gentleman buy his wine and umbrellas? Why did Robbie Williams feud with his next-door neighbor? How has the city commemorated the Queen Mother and Princess Diana? In which park do 100-year-old naked ladies cavort on the banks of the Thames? Where did Lenin and Julian Assange campaign for their beliefs? And which bridge rolls itself up?

The close relationship between Edvard Munch and the National Gallery of Oslo, today part of the National Museum, is a subject well worthy of a detailed publication.

The first Munch painting acquired by the museum was Night in Nice, purchased in 1891. Today the collection encompasses 57 paintings and 186 works on paper. The paintings include masterpieces such as The Sick Child, The Scream, Madonna, The Girls on the Bridge, and Man in the Cabbage Field. How did the museum come by all these works? And what is the story behind the famous ‘Munch Room’? Answers to these and many other questions can be found in this book, which contains reproductions of all the works in the collection.

The book contains texts by Karin Hindsbo, Nils Messel, Sidsel Helliesen, Gerd Woll, Thierry Ford, Mai Britt Guleng, Øystein Ustvedt, Wenche Volle and Vibeke Waallann Hansen.

Text in English and Norwegian.

Erling Viksjø’s buildings challenge our notions about what constitutes good architecture. His extensive use of concrete, modules and repetitive shapes has caused many to describe him as Norway’s foremost Brutalist architect. Viksjø also went furthest in collaborating with visual artists. Concrete in Transition examines the encounter between art and architecture in Viksjø’s projects. How could one attain a unified design where art was no longer an addition to, or in competition with, the architecture?

This publication discusses Viksjø’s collaborations with well-established artists such as Hannah Ryggen and Kai Fjell, and young Modernists including Odd Tandberg, Carl Nesjar and Inger Sitter. In addition, it discusses the projects in which he collaborated with Pablo Picasso.

Text in English and Norwegian.

In October 2024 The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, in collaboration with the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, in Madrid, presented the exhibition Splendour in Venice. From Canaletto to Guardi, devoted to 18th century Venetian painting.

Painters such as Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, Bernardo Bellotto, and Giambattista Tiepolo, authors of some of the most brilliant compositions of their time and undeniable highlights in the collections of both Iberian museums, are among the artists selected for this exhibition.

This publication, released on the occasion of the exhibition, is divided into two parts: the first dedicated to three essays, and the second comprising catalogue entries related to the works of art on display.

Mar Borobia, Chief Curator of Old Master Painting at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, opens the first part with an essay on the history of the collection of 18th century Venetian painting belonging to the Madrid museum. Next, Vera Mariz, curator at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, reflects on Gulbenkian’s admiration for the work of Francesco Guardi, which led him to purchase 19 paintings by the Italian master for his collection. Finally, Alberto Craievich, director of Ca’ Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento Veneziano, explores the artistic context of the city of Venice during the 18th century.

The second part consists of 34 catalogue entries written by Luísa Sampaio, the curator of the exhibition.

Alongside the written content, the publication is illustrated by a large number of images of the artworks on display, allowing readers to observe the exquisite details for which they are notable.

The collection of 18th- and early-19th-century French silverware brought together by Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian is the most important of its time and one of the most significant sections of the Gulbenkian Museum’s collection. Amassed between 1900 and 1950, these pieces constitute a unique group due to their diversity and quality. The collection comprises over 150 works, including several world-class masterpieces that represent the collector’s taste.

The catalogue is dedicated to a selection of silver works of different typologies, such as centerpieces, tureens, salt cellars, candelabras and candlesticks, made by renowned silversmiths such as François-Thomas Germain, Antoine-Sébastien Durant, Robert-Joseph Auguste and Martin-Guillaume Biennais. Despite this diversity, these works all share the characteristics that make this collection unique: quality and authenticity combined with original designs, technical expertise and distinguished provenances, with former owners including members of European aristocracy and the Russian imperial family. These works were mostly purchased in Paris, but there is also an important group of works from the Hermitage collection, acquired through negotiations made between Calouste Gulbenkian and the Soviet government between 1928 and 1930.

After an initial text about Calouste Gulbenkian’s passion for 18th-century French silverware, the most prominent pieces of the collection are presented in chronological order of acquisition and are accompanied by comprehensive descriptions and analyses, as well as detailed information on hallmarks, inscriptions, provenances and historical and bibliographical sources. An excellent photographic survey, carried out specifically for the purpose, illustrates the 43 catalogue entries.

At the end of the publication, the reader can find a list of secondary silverware, an index of names and the group of archive documents and bibliography consulted.

Images Credits: Panorama

The Gulbenkian Museum published its long-awaited catalogue of Calouste Gulbenkian’s collection of illuminated manuscripts, marking the culmination of several years of research and collaboration by a group of international scholars.

This group of works, which was particularly prized by the collector, was acquired for his own personal enjoyment and kept at his home in Paris before being transferred to Portugal. In the 1960s, when they were housed at the Marques de Pombal Palace in Oeiras, the codices were damaged by flooding. The restoration work that allowed these specimens to be studied and exhibited at long last was only completed in 2014.

The first article, by Manuela Fidalgo, the emeritus curator of this group of works from the collection, explores the milestone moments in the creation of the collection, homing in on Gulbenkian’s choices and the way in which he sought to preserve his books. She has also written a brief account of the flooding of 1967 and the restoration of the damaged specimens.

The second essay, by François Avril, former curator of the Manuscripts Department at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, an expert in medieval manuscript volumes and the scientific coordinator of this catalogue, takes an in-depth look at the specimens that make up the collection, plotting the timeline of the acquisitions and uncovering their provenance. The catalogue, which covers 27 books and 10 fragments, was coordinated by Angela Dillon Bussi, a specialist in medieval history and former assistant director of the Biblioteca nazionale Marciana, Venice and the Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana in Florence.

The catalogue entries, which are all illustrated, divide the codices into two sections. The first puts forward a codicological study by Angela Dillon Bussi, in collaboration with Davide Baldi Bellini. The second explores the history, content and artistic importance of the pieces, with contributions from renowned experts such as Angela Dillon Bussi, Federica Toniolo, François Avril, Giordana Mariani Canova, James Marrow, Jonathan Alexander, Lieve de Kessel and Nigel J. Morgan.

This beautiful book of her wartime fashion work addresses Lee Miller’s contribution to the fashion industry in these years and her significant service to the survival of British Vogue magazine.

Audrey Withers, Lee Miller’s editor at British Vogue, in 1941 wrote ‘she [Lee Miller] has borne the whole weight of our studio production through the most difficult period in Brogue’s [British Vogue’s] history’.

Containing over 130 images, with the majority printed full page this book also contains accompanying text by Ami Bouhassane, Lee Miller’s granddaughter and Co-Director of the Lee Miller Archives, who provides insights into Lee Miller’s work process. In two additional essays, fashion historian Amber Butchart writes on the fashion of the period and Robin Muir, contributing editor to British Vogue, discusses Lee Miller’s work for Vogue.