An exuberant journey through what might be called the Golden Age of Outdoor Advertising in Cambodia. From 1990-2000, small businesses blossomed, in contrast to the preceding decades when the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese regimes suppressed or vigorously regulated entrepreneurial ventures. As free enterprise spread, so did an abundance of eye-catching, creative, hand-painted shop signs. Inspired by the simple beauty, and often humor, of their folk-art style, public health officer Joel Montague began collecting these unique advertising images in 1991. The Boston Center for the Arts and the Fowler Museum at the University of California have displayed his collection, now presented to readers here for the first time. Montague's other books include "The Colonial Good Life: A Commentary on Andre Joyeux's Vision of French Indochina," "Picture Postcards of Cambodia 1900-1950," and "La Terre de Bouddha: Artistic Impressions of French Indochina."

Charlie's introduction to his blog put it best: "A lifetime in marketing actually equips a man for very little... Now pushing 58, I realise with some horror that it is a full half century since I last took cycling remotely seriously. If this trip does not go well, I might leave it as long until my next attempt. In September 2012, seven friends of varying fitness and circumference, accompanied by an elderly camper-wagon and driver, are cycling from France to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain." Despite being well past their prime they cycled up the equivalent of Mount Everest plus a bit as they crossed the Pyrenees, the Montes de Oca, the Montes de Leon, and the Cantabrian Mountains, in the process expending over 20,000 calories each (according to Susie's iPhone App), most of which were put back on each evening. They cycled in the footsteps of 1,000 years of history, marveled at the art and architecture accumulated over the centuries, and at times crashed into it. They visited the sites of miracles and pondered their meaning, and crossed the 200 meter bridge at Hospital de Orbigo which in 1434 was the site of a month long jousting tournament. They experienced the highs and lows of triumph and disaster, and felt compelled to test the efficiency of the Spanish medical system. Comment on the blog from Barnaby: "God, troops...it is epic reading and I am on the edge of my seat as I follow your progress on my map." The De-Caff Camino is in turn amusing, informative, easy reading and irreverent, and yet is imbued throughout with the greatest respect for the history and traditions of the Camino and those who have written their names into its lore. Improbably arriving at their destination after two weeks and 500 miles on the road, the author offers some forthright advice to the Vatican on how to enhance the experience for pilgrims at last achieving their goal after so much exertion, self-sacrifice and denial. The De-Caff Camino is an essential and most entertaining addition to the body of knowledge of The Way of St James.

In this study 'Art, Poetry and WW1, by Edward Lucue-Smith of writing, poetry and painting In the Centenary Year of the outbreak of the First World War the author considers the historical impact on the general psyche of the calamitous events, reflected in the expression of poets and visual artists. The volume includes Eric Kennington, CRW Nevinson, John Singer Sargent, William Orpen, Stanley Spencer and Paul Nash; and writers Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg, Wilfred Owen, Edward Thomas and T.S. Eliot. In Europe the painters: Otto Dix, Max Beckman, Franz Marc, Gino Severini, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ludwig Meidner. He establishes a continuity to the theme with reference to works by Velazquez, Watteau, Goya and others, in their treatment of the spectacle of battle and the horrors of human conflict.

The reign of Queen Victoria witnessed a spectacular rise in the visibility, wealth, and prestige of English artists and designers. Leading this resurgence was a group of artists who established their studios in and around the new, fashionable district of London's Holland Park. This book -- the first major study of the Holland Park Circle of artists, architects, and their patrons -- is both an engrossing narrative of their lives, works, and influence and a perceptive analysis of the subtle relationships between high Victorian taste and mercantile values.

The circle was formed around G. F. Watts, who lived at Little Holland House; the handsome and accomplished Frederic Leighton; and their friend Valentine Prinsep. The artists who followed included Luke Fildes, Hamo Thomycroft, William Burges, Marcus Stone, James Jebusa Shannon, and Holman Hunt. Their studio-houses, designed by prominent architects of the era, were featured in architectural journals and society magazines, influencing the external and internal appearance of London's buildings. Caroline Dakers also describes how the artists posed "at home" for society photographs and how their "Show Sundays, " when the public was invited into the studios, became part of the London Season. She presents a fresh perspective on a period when art in England, in the words of Henry James, had become "a great fashion."