BookOdyssey

Castles were introduced into England by the Normans in the 11th century, with more than 1500 built throughout England and Wales over the next 400 years. Colourful photos of castles now and artworks showing what they looked like centuries ago accompany informative detail about topics such as medieval castle life, knights and chivalry, and the castle as a home as well as fortress. Also includes a list of interesting castles to visit, including some National Trust properties. A book for lovers of England and her history. Look out for more Pitkin Guides on the very best of British history, heritage and travel. Σελίδες: 32, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0623, Διαστάσεις: 16.5x16.5cm

Britain has a wealth of royal palaces, some owned by the Crown as part of the country’s assets, while others have been bought by members of the Royal Family themselves as personal residences. Each property has a fascinating story behind it, as well as its own unique place in history. This beautifully illustrated book looks at some of the UK’s best-loved royal homes, current and former, their buildings, gardens, treasures and, of course, their inhabitants past and present. Discover how these homes have evolved over the centuries and how they are being adapted for the future and the demands of modern life. Written by seasoned Pitkin royal author Halima Sadat, this easily digestible volume makes a wonderful companion for anyone visiting these impressive buildings and their beautiful gardens. Entries include: Hampton Court, Osborne House, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, Highgrove, Sandringham and Balmoral. Σελίδες: 32, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0801, Διαστάσεις: 17.2x17.2cm

A compendium of 28 beautiful, historical Scottish Castles for local and visitor alikeScotland: A land with rich history, wild landscapes and some of the most beautiful castles on Earth. There have been over 2000 castles in scottish history; some have been preserved in superb condition, some lie in picturesque ruin and others have been resigned to historical records.Discover the story of the well-trodden fortress of Edinburgh Castle, uncover the beautiful remoteness of Eileen Donan and learn all about Castle Urquhart, on the banks of Loch Ness. These are the sites of feuds, the homes of royalty and the locations of great battles.This Pitkin guide takes the reader on a tour of 28 of Scotland\'s most magnificent castles. Revised for 2019, it makes a perfect addition to the literature for any visitor to the country. Σελίδες: 32, Έτος Έκδοσης: 2019, Διαστάσεις: 17.2x17.2cm

The perfect stocking filler for lovers of English Castles. A handy guide to England’s most dramatic castles and strongholds, many of which are open to visitors. Includes an eight-page map section showing the locations of castles covered in the book. Features historical background and architectural details for each of the castles, accompanied by beautiful colour photographs. The book covers the major sites of Windsor, Warwick and Leeds Castle, as well as lesser known fortresses scattered across the country. Includes details on the property’s custodianship, whether cared for by the National Trust, English Heritage or another body, a description of the gardens where relevant, location, website and phone number. A concise guide to English castles in an accessible format.Of interest to English, local and architectural historians, as well as international visitors to England. Σελίδες: 224, Διαστάσεις: 10.6x10.6cm

Even now, the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages overwhelm us by their imagination, technical daring and sheer scale. How could such structures be built when cities had only a few thousand inhabitants and only the most primitive machinery was available? Who initiated them? Who designed them? Who paid for them?Through the documentary records that remain (many of which are quoted at length), and drawings and details from contemporary art, we are led into the extraordinary world of the medieval master mason. Σελίδες: 176, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0601, Διαστάσεις: 12.5x12.5cm

An illustrated historical tour of London\'s 13 great railway termini, on a clockwise circuit from Paddington to Victoria.London’s railway termini are among the most recognisable and familiar landmarks in the city. Famed for their bustling platforms and architectural innovation, they comprise a fascinating mixture of Neo-Gothic exuberance and purposeful modernity. Though each owes its existence to a long-extinct Victorian railway company, these stations continue to be central to London life, with millions of visitors passing through every year. This historical whistlestop tour takes you on a circuit of London’s thirteen great railway termini, from Paddington, through King’s Cross, to Victoria. Ranging from the earliest stations to the latest restorations and ongoing developments, this beautifully illustrated book examines both their legacy and their future. Σελίδες: 64, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0705, Διαστάσεις: 14.6x14.6cm

Chinoiserie, a decorative style inspired by the art of the Far East, gripped Britain from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. Despite taking its name from the French word for ‘Chinese’, the style also incorporated influences from other Asian countries, helping to shape the period’s popular fantasy of the ‘exotic Orient’. Wealthy consumers jostled to obtain imported wallpaper, lacquered cabinets and hand-painted porcelain, while domestic manufacturers such as Royal Worcester and Chippendale met demand with mass-produced items of their own. Though interest in the style waned as the Gothic Revival took hold, many examples of Chinoiserie have been preserved. In this beautifully illustrated book, Richard Hayman tells the story of this fascinating phenomenon, and explores the profound impact of Chinoiserie on the material culture of the West. Σελίδες: 64, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0831, Διαστάσεις: 14.9x14.9cm

Timber-framed buildings are a distinctive and treasured part of Britain’s heritage, with such noteworthy examples as Little Moreton Hall, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Lavenham Guildhall. The oldest are medieval but their numbers peaked in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a revival in the nineteenth. The majority of timber-framed buildings are houses, but wood was used in all kinds of other buildings, including shops, inns, churches, town halls and farm buildings. In this beautifully illustrated book, Richard Hayman outlines the history of timber-framed designs, and considers the techniques used in their construction, the regional variations in style that can be found, and how these buildings displayed social status. He also guides the reader in identifying structures now concealed behind later work and explores how these buildings have been treated in subsequent centuries. Σελίδες: 80, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0601, Διαστάσεις: 14.9x14.9cm

Castles and palaces around the world are structures of grandeur, might and beauty. From the flamboyance of Germany\'s fairy tale-Neuschwanstein Castle to the gothic, Dracula-inspiring Bran Castle, perched high in the craggy peaks of Romania\'s Carpathian Mountains; Tokyo\'s Imperial Palace, previously home to samurai warriors to Ireland\'s Blarney Castle, where \'the gift of the gab\' will be granted to any who kiss its stone, the world\'s castles and palaces are steeped in history and stories to tell. Travel writer and journalist Gilly Pickup shares these stories, providing a tour of 50 of the world\'s greatest castles and palaces, filled with humour, interesting facts and tips on how best to visit them. Σελίδες: 256, Έτος Έκδοσης: 2019, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

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Cities are bad for us: polluted, noisy and fundamentally unnatural. We need green space, not concrete. Trees, not tower blocks.So goes the argument. But is it true? What would the city of the future look like if we tried to build a better life from the ground up? And would anyone want to live there?Here, Des Fitzgerald takes us on an urgent, unforgettable journey into the future of urban life, from shimmering edifices in the Arizona desert to forest-bathing in deepest Wales, and from rats in mazes to neuroscientific studies of the effects of our surroundings.Along the way, he reveals the deep-lying and often controversial roots of today\'s green city movement, and offers an argument for celebrating our cities as they are - in all their raucous, constructed and artificial glory. Σελίδες: 288, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

As a world heritage site and one of the most visited cities in the world, Edinburgh boasts a huge range of buildings from all periods and in many different styles. In this book, architectural writer Robin Ward introduces 300 of the city’s most fascinating places, from imposing public buildings such as galleries, museums, banking halls, churches and theatres to pubs, domestic dwellings, monuments and industrial architecture. Conveniently grouped by location, all areas of the city are covered, including suburbs. All are accessible by walking, cycling, public transport or car. Σελίδες: 192, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

In a series of 50 accessible essays, Philip Wilkinson introduces architectural movements and styles throughout history, as well as describing some of the greatest architects\' most important and representative works.From the Pyramids of Giza to the Guggenheim, the classical orders of Vitruvius to the most recent contemporary trends today, 50 Architecture Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important architectural concepts in history. Σελίδες: 208, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0928, Διαστάσεις: 11x11cm

\'Julie Summers has an amazing instinct for unearthing good stories and telling quotes.\' Craig Brown, The Mail On Sunday \'This is an enjoyable book, peppered with examples of under-reported wartime heroism.\' Robert Leigh-Pemberton, The Daily Telegraph \'It’s hard to believe that there are still untold stories about Britain and World War II, but Julie Summers has unearthed a fascinating one that she tells with great verve and style. All in all, Uninvited Guests is a sheer delight.\' Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London and Last Hope IslandA remarkable narrative set against the dark days of World War Two, from one of the country’s foremost social historians.Our Uninvited Guests perfectly captures the spirit of upheaval at the beginning of the Second World War when thousands of houses were requisitioned by the government to provide accommodation for the armed forces, secret services and government offices as well as vulnerable children, the sick and the elderly, all of whom needed to be housed safely beyond the reach of Hitler’s Luftwaffe.  Julie Summers gives the reader a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in some of Britain’s greatest country houses that were occupied by people who would otherwise never have set foot in such opulent surroundings.Blenheim Palace was colonised by schoolboys who slept in the Long Library; Polish special agents trained in the grounds of Audley End House, learning to forge and lie their way into occupied Europe in the old nursery. Brocket Hall, former home of Queen Victoria’s favourite Lord Melbourne, was used as a maternity home for women from the East End of London, and the Rothschilds’ magnificent French chateau-inspired Waddesdon Manor housed a hundred children under five. The Northern Highlands, where the fierce warriors of Scotland’s past developed their unconventional military skills, played host to the most extreme form of warfare, training agents in the fine arts of sabotage, subterfuge and assassination.   The juxtaposition of splendour and opulence with the everyday activities of people whose needs were at odds with their new surroundings is at the heart of this book. This thought-provoking and evocative narrative captures a crucial period in the social history of Britain.Praise for Julie Summers: \'Superb…highly recommended\' Who Do You Think You Are Magazine   \'A remarkable collection of stories…a rich and moving book\' Mail on Sunday \'Summers is a good and knowledgeable writer…powerful, emotional stuff\' Independent \'A poignant, lingering account\' BBC History Magazine \'A revelation – full of information, reminiscences, humour and social history. Reading it not only gave me great pleasure but also made me proud to be a member of such a long lasting, valuable and vital organisation\' Helen Carey OBE, former chairman of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes Σελίδες: 464, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0613, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

From Berlin to Boston, and St Petersburg to Sydney, ancient Egyptian art fills the galleries of some of the world\'s greatest museums, while the architecture of Egyptian temples and pyramids has attracted tourists to Egypt for centuries. But what did Egyptian art and architecture mean to the people who first made and used it - and why has it had such an enduring appeal? In this Very Short Introduction, Christina Riggs explores the visual arts produced in Egypt over a span of some 4,000 years. The stories behind these objects and buildings have much to tell us about how people in ancient Egypt lived their lives in relation to each other, the natural environment, and the world of the gods. Demonstrating how ancient Egypt has fascinated Western audiences over the centuries with its impressive pyramids, eerie mummies, and distinctive visual style, Riggs considers the relationship between ancient Egypt and the modern world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Σελίδες: 160, Διαστάσεις: 11.4x11.4cm

This highly original and sophisticated look at architecture helps us to understand the cultural significance of the buildings that surround us. It avoids the traditional style-spotting approach in favour of giving an idea of what it is about buildings that moves us, and what it is that makes them important artistically and culturally. The book begins by looking at how architecture acquires meaning through tradition, and concludes with the exoticism of the recent avant garde. Illustrations of particular buildings help to anchor the general points with specific examples, from ancient Egypt to the present day. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Σελίδες: 144, Διαστάσεις: 11.2x11.2cm

The rooms we live in are always more than just four walls. As we decorate these spaces and fill them with objects and friends, they shape our lives and become the backdrop to our sense of self. One day, the houses will be gone, but even then, traces of the stories and the memories they contained will remain. In this dazzling work of imaginative re-construction, Edward Hollis takes us to the sites of five great spaces now lost to history and pieces together the fragments he finds there to re-create their vanished chambers. From Rome\'s Palatine to the old Palace of Westminster and the Petit Trianon at Versailles, and from the sets of the MGM studios in Hollywood to the pavilions of the Crystal Palace and his own grandmother\'s sitting room, The Memory Palace is a glittering treasure trove of luminous forgotten places and the people who, for a short time, made them their home. Σελίδες: 368, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0904, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

Landscape architecture plays an important role in shaping the places in which we live and work. But what is it? Landscape architects are involved, amongst other things, in the layout of business parks, the reclamation of derelict industrial sites, the restoration of historic city parks, and the siting and design of major pieces of infrastructure such as motorways, dams, power stations, and flood defences, as well as the planning of parks and gardens. Taking a historical perspective, Ian Thompson looks at both the roots of landscape architecture and the people that established it. This Very Short Introduction explores some of the misconceptions about landscape architecture and considers the discipline\'s origins in landscape gardening. Thompson takes a look at a number of areas, including the influence of Modernism, the difference between landscape design and landscape planning, and the way that planning legislation has driven the growth of the discipline. He also explores contemporary environmentalism, the debate as to whether landscape architecture is an art or a science, landscape architecture in the community, post-industrial projects, and its relationship with ecological urbanism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Σελίδες: 160, Διαστάσεις: 11.4x11.4cm

Revolutionary essays on design, aesthetics and materialism - from one of the great masters of modern architectureAdolf Loos, the great Viennese pioneer of modern architecture, was a hater of the fake, the fussy and the lavishly decorated, and a lover of stripped down, clean simplicity. He was also a writer of effervescent, caustic wit, as shown in this selection of essays on all aspects of design and aesthetics, from cities to glassware, furniture to footwear, architectural training to why \'the lack of ornament is a sign of intellectual power\'.Translated by Shaun WhitesideWith an epilogue by Joseph Masheck Σελίδες: 352, Διαστάσεις: 11x11cm

Antoni Gaudí has a reputation as monastic, mad and hermetic. But the architect of many of the buildings that define Barcelona’s cityscape was no mad eccentric. He was a genius inspired by his faith in nature and the divine. Picking up the same strands of eclecticism and art nouveau current in fin de siècle European architecture, he transformed them into an idiom unique to himself and Barcelona to create a series of buildings as revolutionary in their engineering as they were astonishing for their spaces. For Gaudí his work was his life, and this book reveals the exuberant world and groundbreaking work of this unique figure in the history of modern architecture. Σελίδες: 80, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0701, Διαστάσεις: 17.1x17.1cm

The Revenge of the Real envisions a new positive biopolitics that recognises that how populations govern themselves is literally a matter of life and death. We are grappling with multiple interconnected dilemmas - climate change, pandemics, the tensions between the individual and society - all of which have to be addressed on a planetary scale. Even when separated, we are still enmeshed. Can the world govern itself differently? If so, what models and philosophies are needed? Bratton argues that, instead of thinking of technology as something that happens to society, we must see how it can form the basis of a politics of infrastructure, knowledge, and direct intervention. He urges us to reconsider questions of \"surveillance\" in the face of necessary testing and care. He asks what did the \"mask wars\" reveal about the destructive nature of individualism as the basis of sovereignty? The book proposes that it is time to transform how we live, work and thrive. Rethinking governance means rethinking how we interact with each other as a global population, and how we ensure our obligations to each other. For this, we should build a society based in a new rationality of inclusion, care and foresight. Σελίδες: 192, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1005, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

WINNER OF THE 2022 FRENCH HERITAGE SOCIETY BOOK AWARD The profound emotion felt around the world upon seeing images of Notre-Dame in flames opens up a series of questions: Why was everyone so deeply moved? Why does Notre-Dame so clearly crystallise what our civilisation is about? What makes ‘Our Lady of Paris’ the soul of a nation and a symbol of human achievement? What is it that speaks so directly to us today? In answer, Agnès Poirier turns to the defining moments in Notre-Dame’s history. Beginning with the laying of the corner stone in 1163, she recounts the conversion of Henri IV to Catholicism, the coronation of Napoleon, Victor Hugo’s nineteenth-century campaign to preserve the cathedral, Baron Haussmann’s clearing of the streets in front of it, the Liberation in 1944, the 1950s film of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn, and the state funeral of Charles de Gaulle, before returning to the present. The conflict over Notre-Dame’s reconstruction promises to be fierce. Nothing short of a cultural war is already brewing between the wise and the daring, the sincere and the opportunist, historians and militants, the devout and secularists. It is here that Poirier reveals the deep malaise – gilet jaunes and all – at the heart of the France. Σελίδες: 240, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0601, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

In 1970, Richard Sennett published the groundbreaking The Uses of Disorder, arguing that the ideal of a planned and ordered city was flawed. Fifty years later, Sennett returns to these still fertile ideas and, alongside campaigner and architect Pablo Sendra, sets out an agenda for the design and ethics of the Open City.The public spaces of our cities are under siege from planners, privatisation and increased surveillance. Our streets are becoming ever more lifeless and ordered. What is to be done? Can disorder be designed? In this provocative essay Sendra and Sennett propose a reorganisation of how we think and plan the social life of our cities. \'Infrastructures of disorder\' combine architecture, politics, urban planning and activism in order to develop places that nurture rather than stifle, bring together rather than divide up, remain open to change rather than closed off. Σελίδες: 160, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0531, Διαστάσεις: 14x14cm

In this book, Sharon Amos explains how to design and create a beautiful garden for little or no money, offering tips on bartering for clippings, getting a bargain at garage sales or neighbourhood fairs, digging up suckers or adapting wild species and controlling them in a garden environment. She provides a comprehensive directory of 80 plants including detailed advice on where and how to grow a wide variety of garden favourites, from snowdrops to poppies. With beautiful illustrations, Plants for Free is the perfect gift book for cultivating your garden on a budget of next-to-nothing. Σελίδες: 144, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0303, Διαστάσεις: 14.1x14.1cm

A celebration of some of Britain\'s most important and beloved buildings – its sheds. From the humble to the not so humble. ‘An eloquent exploration of the creative, reflective and innovative space of the shed via some of the UK’s most stunning landscapes.’ – Gardens Illustrated magazine The National Trust looks after many of Britain\'s most important and beloved buildings – its sheds. They lurk in the shadow of grand country houses; they brave the elements on the tops of cliffs; they have inspired famous writers and housed everything from beehives to birdwatchers. These beautiful and sometimes eccentric structures are as individual as their owners. A Victorian coastal shed in Cornwall is where the Reverend Hawker went to write verse, and smoke opium. It\'s also the smallest building cared for by the National Trust. George Bernard Shaw’s shed could be rotated throughout the day to make the most of the sun, while sculptor Barbara Hepworth used hers for napping in. Rather than a place in which to create, many of these sheds are the creation. Alongside the literary writing dens and horticultural hideaways there are also floating sheds, coastguards’ sheds, artists’ studios, summer houses, beach huts, camping pods, bothies, teahouses, follies and much more. ‘This illustrated book will bring on a serious case of wanderlust.’ – The English Garden magazine Σελίδες: 128, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0909, Διαστάσεις: 20x20cm

The Natural History Museum is home to many rare and exceptional natural wonders - but the magnificent Museum building is itself one of London\'s most iconic attractions. Envisioned by Alfred Waterhouse as a cathedral of nature, the building he created is one of Britain\'s most striking examples of Romanesque architecture and is considered a work of art in its own right. This picture-led exploration of the building celebrates Waterhouse\'s unique architectural accomplishment and showcases many of the artistic gems it houses; not least it\'s incredibly detailed engravings, sculptures and painted ceiling. Σελίδες: 176, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

Discover the hidden history of Britain through the stories of its \'lost\' or abandoned places and buildings.Portillo’s Secret History of Britain presents a compelling and wonderfully evocative history of Britain through the stories of its ‘lost’ or abandoned places and buildings. The chapters cover a variety of historical themes: Crime and Punishment, Health and Medicine, Defence and Warfare, and Entertainment and Leisure. Using a combination of his own investigations and archive research, plus memories and quotations from the contributors he interviewed for the series, Michael Portillo explains what the buildings were used for and by whom, why they were abandoned, and what they can tell us about our past. For example:– Learn what the ruins of London Road Fire and Police Station in Manchester reveal about the history of the emergency services in the last 100 years– How Bradford’s art deco Odeon cinema encapsulates a century of film-making and movie-going With evocative text that brings each location vividly to life, Michael Portillo describes the building and its activities in its heyday and compares this past life with its faded grandeur or melancholic abandonment seen today. Filled with fascinating insights and observations, his narrative provides a compelling and original perspective on Britain’s social and military history. Portillo\'s Hidden History of Britain features deserted villages, abandoned prisons, closed-down cinemas, empty hospitals, derelict military bases, sewers and much more. Complementing the text are 16 pages of atmospheric and informative photographs. Σελίδες: 272, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Somewhere between 1910 and 1970, architecture changed. Now that modern architecture has become familiar (sometimes celebrated, sometimes vilified), it\'s hard to imagine how novel it once seemed. Expensive buildings were transformed from ornamental fancies which referred to the classical and medieval pasts into strikingly plain reflections of novel materials, functions, and technologies. Modern architecture promised the transformation of cities from overcrowded conurbations characterised by packed slums and dirty industries to spacious realms of generous housing and clean mechanised production set in parkland. At certain times and in certain cultures, it stood for the liberation of the future from the past. This Very Short Introduction explores the technical innovations that opened-up the cultural and intellectual opportunities for modern architecture to happen. Adam Sharr shows how the invention of steel and reinforced concrete radically altered possibilities for shaping buildings, transforming what architects were able to imagine, as did new systems for air conditioning and lighting. While architects weren\'t responsible for these innovations, they were among the first to appreciate how they could make the world look and feel different, in connection with imagery from other spheres like modern art and industrial design. Focusing on a selection of modern buildings that also symbolize bigger cultural ideas, Sharr discusses what modern architecture was like, why it was like that, and how it was imagined. Considering the work of some of the historians and critics who helped to shape modern architecture, he demonstrates how the field owes as much to its storytellers as to its buildings. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Σελίδες: 192, Διαστάσεις: 10.9x10.9cm

\'A charming account of a daughter, a house and a fastidious dad\' Sunday TimesShelley Klein grew up in the Scottish Borders, in a house designed on a modernist open-plan grid. With colourful glass panels set against a forest of trees, it was like living in a work of art. Her father, Bernat Klein, was a textile designer whose pioneering colours and textures were a major contribution to 1960s and 70s style.Thirty years on, Shelley moves back home to care for her father, now in his eighties: the house has not changed and neither has his uncompromising vision - or his distinctive way of looking at the world. Told with great tenderness and humour, this is Shelley\'s account of looking after an adored yet maddening parent and a piercing portrait of the grief that followed his death. \'A sad, funny, utterly fascinating book about families, home and how to say goodbye\' Mark Haddon\'Original, moving and bracingly honest... often hilarious\' Blake Morrison, Guardian\'It is strange that grief should produce such a life-affirming book, but it has. Read it for the solace it contains, or for its captivating descriptions. Either way, it\'s a delight\' Telegraph Σελίδες: 288, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'A glorious green adventure story.\' Ann Treneman, The Times \'Books of the Year\'\'The most enthralling historical book I’ve read this year.\' Claire Tomalin, New Statesman \'Books of the year\' Daringly innovative when it opened in 1848, the Palm House in Kew Gardens remains one of the most beautiful glass buildings in the world today. Seemingly weightless, vast and yet light, the Palm House floats free from architectural convention, at once monumental and ethereal. From a distance, the crowns of the palms within are silhouetted in the central dome; close to, banana leaves thrust themselves against the glass. To enter it is to enter a tropical fantasy. The body is assaulted by heat, light and the smell of damp vegetation. In Palace of Palms, Kate Teltscher tells the extraordinary story of its creation and of the Victorians’ obsession with the palms that filled it. It is a story of breathtaking ambition, of scientific discovery and, crucially, of the remarkable men whose vision it was. The Palm House was commissioned by the charismatic first Director of Kew, Sir William Hooker, designed by the audacious Irish engineer, Richard Turner, and managed by Kew’s forthright curator, John Smith, who battled with boilers and floods to ensure the survival of the rare and wondrous plants it housed. Σελίδες: 400, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1026, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

The superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author and feminist icon - a woman very much ahead of her time - including her time spent on the glorious island of Skiathos\'A happy, hilarious book\' Daily ExpressNancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the 50s and 60s. Witty, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel... twice.Nancy Spain had a deep love of the Mediterranean. So it was no surprise when, in the 1960s, she decided to build a place of her own on the Greek island of Skiathos. With an impractical nature surpassed only by her passion for the project, and despite many obstacles, she gloriously succeeded. This classic memoir is infused with all Spain\'s chaotic brilliance, zest for life and single-minded pursuit of a life worth living.Perfect for fans of A PLACE IN THE SUN and ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY\'Full of fun, and that zest of intelligence that never left her\' Sunday Times Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1229, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

A delightful journey through the glamorous story of the English country house party by the bestselling historian.Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party - and you are invited. Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the Bright Young Things. With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician - whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas - Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating. The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war - and a uniquely fast-living period of English history. Praise for The Long Weekend:\'Delicious, occasionally fantastical, revealing in ways that Downton Abbey never was. It is as if Tinniswood is at the biggest, wildest, most luxuriantly decadent party ever thrown, and he knows everyone.\' Observer \'A deliciously jaunty and wonderfully knowledgeable book. Tinniswood displays a terrific insider\'s grasp of gossip . A meticulous, irresistible story.\' Spectator \'Elegant, encyclopedic and entertaining . A confident and skilled historian who understands the mores of his era and wears his learning lightly . Deserves to be on every costume drama producer\'s bookshelf.\' Times Σελίδες: 144, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

This beautifully illustrated book tells the stories behind 60 remarkable buildings chosen from the many thousands at National Trust properties across England, Wales and Northern Ireland Spanning 900 years of history, this selection of 60 remarkable buildings in the care of the National Trust ranges from a 13th-century tithe barn in Oxfordshire to a 20th-century suburban semi in Liverpool; from a medieval guildhall in Suffolk to a Victorian lighthouse in Tyne and Wear; from an Arts and Crafts village in County Antrim to an atomic research facility in East Anglia. The book has an introduction by George Clarke and concludes with a useful illustrated glossary of terms and architectural features. Σελίδες: 224, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1120, Διαστάσεις: 18.6x18.6cm