What were Montmartre and Montparnasse really like in their hey-day, roughly between 1904, when the youthful Picasso had just arrived on the Hill of Martyrs, and 1920, when Amedeo Modigliani, justly called ‘the prince of Bohemians’, died of consumption and dissipation in Montparnasse? This book, written by an Englishman who lived in Montmartre for 30 years and knew its famous habitue intimately, gives a vivid description. It reveals the truth behind the many legends, is packed with authentic stories about writers and painters whose names are now household words, and contains much hitherto unpublished information about the life and career of Modigliani obtained from his family and friends. Much of the text was written in Montmartre amid the scenes described, and after personal consultation with survivors of the great days when Frede presided over the Lapin Agile and Libion, patron of the Cafe de la Rotonde, was beginning to rival him in Montparnasse. It is the most complete account which has yet been written in English of the birth of Cubism and other contemporary movements in modern painting, and of the lives and loves who started them.

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of Victorian Britain’s greatest thinkers, the art critic and social reformer John Ruskin, the distinguished Ruskinian Robert Hewison introduces Ruskin’s ideas and values through revelatory studies of the people and issues that shaped his thought, and the ideas and values that in turn were shaped by his writings and personality. Beginning with an exploration of the rich tradition of European art that stimulated his imagination, and to which he responded in his own skilful drawings, Ruskin and his Contemporaries follows the uniquely visual dimension of his thinking from the aesthetic, religious and political foundations laid by his parents to his difficult personal and critical relationship with Turner, and his encounters with the art and architecture of Venice. Victor Hugo makes a surprising appearance as Ruskin develops his ideas on the relationship between art and society. Ruskin’s role as a contemporary art critic is explored in two chapters on Holman Hunt, one focussing on the Pre-Raphaelite’s The Awakening Conscience, one examining his later Triumph of the Innocents. The development of Ruskin’s role as a social critic is traced through his teaching at the London Workingmen’s College and his foundation of the Guild of St George, a reforming society that continues to this day. Oscar Wilde came under his personal influence, as did Octavia Hill, a founder of the National Trust. The evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin are shown to have been deeply unsettling to Ruskin’s worldview. The book concludes with a demonstration of the profound influence of the Paradise Myth on all of Ruskin’s writings, followed by an exploration of the concept of cultural value that shows why Ruskin’s ruling principle: ‘There is no wealth but Life’ is as relevant to the 21st century as it was to the 19th.

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of Victorian Britain’s greatest thinkers, the art critic and social reformer John Ruskin, the distinguished Ruskinian Robert Hewison introduces Ruskin’s ideas and values through revelatory studies of the people and issues that shaped his thought, and the ideas and values that in turn were shaped by his writings and personality. Beginning with an exploration of the rich tradition of European art that stimulated his imagination, and to which he responded in his own skilful drawings, Ruskin and his Contemporaries follows the uniquely visual dimension of his thinking from the aesthetic, religious and political foundations laid by his parents to his difficult personal and critical relationship with Turner, and his encounters with the art and architecture of Venice. Victor Hugo makes a surprising appearance as Ruskin develops his ideas on the relationship between art and society. Ruskin’s role as a contemporary art critic is explored in two chapters on Holman Hunt, one focussing on the Pre-Raphaelite’s The Awakening Conscience, one examining his later Triumph of the Innocents. The development of Ruskin’s role as a social critic is traced through his teaching at the London Workingmen’s College and his foundation of the Guild of St George, a reforming society that continues to this day. Oscar Wilde came under his personal influence, as did Octavia Hill, a founder of the National Trust. The evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin are shown to have been deeply unsettling to Ruskin’s worldview. The book concludes with a demonstration of the profound influence of the Paradise Myth on all of Ruskin’s writings, followed by an exploration of the concept of cultural value that shows why Ruskin’s ruling principle: `There is no wealth but Life’ is as relevant to the 21st century as it was to the 19th.

This book celebrates the special relationship between beloved British dogs and their devoted owners. Architects, fashion designers, florists, entrepreneurs – these and the other famous, creative and hyper-successful people have one thing in common when it comes to their canines: the strength of the bond between human and four-legged friend. This makes for tales of companionship that will be sure to uplift your spirits and make the heart sing.

Exuberantly photographed by Dylan Thomas, with interviews by Georgina Montagu, Top Dogs is a joyous read and lustrous eye-candy for dog lovers. From Jacobean manor to Cumbrian hill farm, and circus wagon to royal residence, the lucky hounds who are showcased in this sumptuous volume occupy some of the loveliest homes in the country.

“Capturing the spirit of every Glastonbury since 1992, this coffee table book from award-winning photographer Liam Bailey brings together three decades of revelry and wonder among festivalgoers on Somerset’s most famous dairy farm.” — Redonline.co.uk

“…Iconic Photos That Capture the Messy Essence of Glastonbury.” — VICE

“The book’s images capture the rugged anarchy that spreads through Somerset each year around the solstice.” — MSN

“There are many books about the music scene but few that show punters in all their beautiful variety. Liam Bailey’s long-term documentation has really paid off – this book about the craziness of Glastonbury Festival is terrific.” – Martin Parr

Glastonbury is the striking distillation of over 30 years’ unprecedented photographic access to the world’s largest green-field music and performing arts festival. In over 120 memorable images, Liam Bailey invites us to share his experiences of being among its diverse tribes.

Although Glastonbury has evolved into a sprawling fixture of the British summer calendar, this famously vibrant event is still powered by the belief in alternative communal culture. It is this special energy that has kept Bailey returning every year since 1992. Above all, this ‘access all areas’ visual diary makes a case for the positive human potential of over 200,000 people being able to get together in the open air – to enjoy music, performance and each other.

Bailey’s work has been exhibited in the UK and abroad, and appeared in magazines and newspapers including The Independent, The Guardian and Condé Nast Traveller.

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 center of Sheffield, through parkland, and directly into open countryside? You need this book fast then, don’t you, you soft ‘aporth!

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 analyzes 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 neighborhoods 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

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.

Each May in Gloucestershire, contestants embark on an ankle-shattering pursuit of an enormous wheel of cheese down a 26-degree hill. In August, a man utterly covered in burdock seeds and burrs ambles 9 miles through Queensferry, getting progressively drunker on whisky offered by locals. On Bonfire Night, November 5th, foolhardy residents of Ottery St Mary process through the streets with flaming tar barrels on their backs. These are just a few of Britain’s folk customs, many of them centuries old. From the profound to the baffling, this handbook brings together over 100 rituals and traditions that mark changing seasons, unite communities and offer insight into Britain’s wonderfully weird cultural identity.

111 Places in the Cotswolds reveals an England of rolling hills, gurgling streams, timeless villages and unexpected stories. Which place did William Morris call “Heaven on Earth”? Where can you channel Provence in summer? Where are stones said to be petrified geese, and which hill is home to 18 species of rare orchid? Awarded Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty status, the Cotswolds are celebrated for their landscapes — but their true charm lies in the human history scattered across them. From Neolithic standing stones and Roman mosaics to farms harvesting nature’s best produce and villages that have barely changed in centuries, this guide uncovers the places and people that have added to the region’s allure. With 111 surprises, legends and historic discoveries at every turn, no day exploring the Cotswolds is ever without something amazing — or, at the very least, a very decent pub lunch.

This book dedicated to the history of Formula 1 aims to establish itself as a reference title on the subject. Conceived as a large-format bilingual French English illustrated book, it retraces more than 75 years of motor racing through an exceptional selection of photographs from the archives of AFP, DPPI and Getty Images. The book brings together numerous previously unpublished and rarely seen images, covering not only the defining moments of the championship but also more intimate and behind-the-scenes moments from the history of teams, drivers and the sport itself. The texts are written by two of the most respected authors in motorsport journalism: French author Lionel Froissart, who explores the drivers, rivalries and legendary duels that shaped Formula 1, and British author Paul Fearnley, who examines the technical evolution, innovation and major transformations of the sport over the decades.

Text in English and French.

“This book is here to remind long-time movie fans why these important 20th-century icons will forever remain the Fabulous Faces of our time.”
— The Eye of Photography

“Enigmatic, dazzling and fabulous: the faces of Hollywood’s golden age.” — The Times

“A new book pulls together glamorous portraits of film stars from the 1920s to the 60s who could draw an audience with their name alone.”
— The Guardian

“Intense close-ups, staged embraces and smouldering, emotive glances exude star power in this fitting tribute to a bygone age.”
“Star quality emanates from every page.”— The Lady Magazine

Fabulous Faces of Classic Hollywood brings together some of the greatest portraits taken by leading Hollywood portrait photographers during the motion picture industry’s golden years of 1920 to 1960. Little-seen negatives, long buried in the remarkable and internationally renowned archives of the John Kobal Foundation, have been unearthed and printed to reveal some of Hollywood’s favorite stars at the height of their careers. Full-page images of Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, as well as lesser lights including Anna May Wong, Lon Chaney, Lupe Velez and Ramon Novarro, will remind long-time movie fans why these important 20th-century icons will forever remain the fabulous faces of the movie world.

Selected by best-selling author Robert Dance and writer and award-winning film producer Simon Crocker, over 200 photographs are presented alongside an essay by Dance, describing what it takes to become a fabulous face and an international icon.

Bonnard drew on the Japanese printmakers, especially Hiroshige, to convey the essence of Paris not through its monuments or vistas, but with scenes of bustling daily life observed from idiosyncratic angles. But unlike the Japanese artists, he worked with a painterly sense of texture and color that remains as astonishing today as when it was first published. This is one of the three hugely original portfolios of etchings brought out in 1899 by the great dealer Ambroise Vollard, and printed by the master craftsman Auguste Clot. The other two are by Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis, and all three are being published simultaneously by Pallas Athene. 

U Thong, 100 or so km north of Bangkok, has been an important site for over 2,000 years, as witnessed by the discovery of a 3rd century Roman coin. The moated city was connected to the Chin river, thereby gaining access to international trade routes.

The inhabitants of the early centers of Classic Southeast Asian civilization were already wealthy enough to own large quantities of ornate jewelry such as imported beads from India and carved stone from Taiwan. They had so much gold that central and western mainland Southeast Asia including the U Thong area was known in Sanskrit as Suvarnabhumi, the Golden Land.

This publication brings a new perspective to the study of ancient gold from U Thong. The author is a trained research metallurgy scientist, and these skills have been brought to bear on the highly significant corpus of early gold artifacts found in and around the moated city, the largest accumulation of such artifacts from any of the ancient muang of Thailand.

The goldsmiths were as highly skilled as those anywhere else in the world, but almost all previous studies have been written by people who can only study the outer appearance to draw conclusions regarding its age and place of origin.

“A recent addition to the city’s literary landscape – tantalisingly titled The 500 Hidden Secrets of London – more than lives up to its name. With something for every type of visitor, it is brimming with surprises…” — Worldwide Writer

In this brand new and thoroughly revised edition of the bestselling London city guide author Tom Greig not only shares a lot of new secrets, he also included two outside-the-box city walks: an ideal way to explore a part of the city in a day. Many of the new addresses in this guide are in East-London, an area Tom has explored more intensely since the first publication of The 500 Hidden Secrets of London in 2017.

Of course the best hidden secrets in the rest of the city are still included as well, such as the bakery on Brick Lane that’s open 24-hours and that’s famous for its salt-beef bagels; the only modernist house open to the public; the historic church where you can hear avant-garde electronic music; or the art deco car park that hosts art installations and fashion shows. The book contains 500 places and details that few people know, making it the perfect guide for visitors who want to avoid the usual tourist spots and for residents who are keen to track down the city’s best-kept secrets.

Also available: The 500 Hidden Secrets of Paris, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Boston, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Copenhagen, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Tokyo, and many more. Discover the series at the500hiddensecrets.com

The 500 Hidden Secrets of Chicago reveals 500 off-the-beaten- track places and interesting details for anyone who’s keen to explore Chicago’s best-kept secrets, e.g. 5 cafés for sitting a spell, 5 iconic merchants, 5 ways to enjoy the Chicago river, 5 unlikely art destinations, 5 historic music spots… and much more.

This book, edited by the designer of Shanghai Astronomy Museum, Ennead Architects LLP, is an all-round record of the design and construction process of Shanghai Astronomy Museum, with a foreword written by Ye Shuhua—an astronomer and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a preface by Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. The main part of the book unfolds from four perspectives: site, concept, realization, and engineering and construction, which describes the process of generating the core form of the Shanghai Astronomy Museum, as well as the design ingenuity of the main functional areas inside. The book presents many beautiful images of the museum, and includes texts by the chief designer, Thomas J. Wong. The designers’ love for the universe and their great enthusiasm for the project contribute to the essence of this book.

Text in English and Chinese.

In an age of soaring uncertainty, small moments of connection – with ourselves and our planet – matter more than ever before. The 200 intimate portraits in this volume tell stories of courage, hardship and hope, across continents and through generations.

10 Years of Remembering Wildlife is the tenth book in the Remembering Wildlife charity series, which has so far raised more than $1.5 milion US Dollars for conservation. It will be an anthology of images selected from each of the previous books in the series (elephants, rhinos, Great Apes, cheetahs, lions, African wild dogs, bears, leopards and tigers) plus new for this year: pangolins. The aim of the creators is to make the most beautiful book ever seen on the species and to use that to raise awareness of the plight facing that animal, which this year will be pangolins and also funds to protect it. Each book is full of images generously donated by many of the world’s top wildlife photographers. All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to projects working to protect pangolins.