The Royal Castle in Warsaw is one of the most important museums-residences in Poland. Its history and the provenance of its collections are extremely complex and symbolise the turbulent history of the country. The last king of Poland, Stanislaw August, created a great collection of works of art and commissioned the interior design in a classicist style. With the loss of independence by Poland, works of art and furnishings were transported to Russia, then later returned under the Treaty of Riga in 1921. Looted by the Germans during World War II, the Castle was blown up in 1944. The castle finished being rebuilt in 1984 and today is a museum of interiors and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The highlights of the Castle's collections include paintings by Rembrandt and Canaletto as well as valuable objects of decorative arts and historical memorabilia, showcased in this latest Director's Choice with the expertise of Director Wojciech Falkowski.

95 colour illustrations. The Athens Acropolis and its Museum constitute an integrated architectural and artistic unity, one of the most important in the history of global civilization. This informative and attractive guidebook is designed to be a useful travel companion; its descriptions and interpretative analyses help show the monuments in a new way, through an understanding of the historical, artistic and political events that contributed to their creation. Through the text and the illustrations we get to know the gods and heroes who were worshipped on the Acropolis, the leaders who envisaged the major projects, the artists who brought them to fruition, as well as the innovative ideas they applied, and the Athenian citizens who admired and enjoyed these achievements.

The Tropical Hothouse describes over 50 tropical plants, telling the intriguing stories of their origins and compelling features. Sourced exclusively from the archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, each accompanying illustration presses out of the page, transforming your book into a work of art. The Tropical Hothouse contains a botanical paradise, where tropical trees are festooned with vines, orchids and bromeliads, lurid blossoms perfume the air, and leafy ferns and palms jostle for the light. From exotic-looking potted orchids and motley assortments of succulents, to luxuriant, leafy greenery, house plants and terraria are more popular than ever as additions to stylish interiors. This beautifully presented and fascinating collection includes perennial favourites and unusual specimens, transporting this world of extraordinary plants into your hands and home.

"Hall's consummate history is not just the story of the evolution of one of the world's great collections... The book is also a through-the-keyhole insight into the shifting tastes, good or bad, of 1,000 years of monarchs." - The Times The Royal Collection is the last great collection formed by the European monarchies to have survived into the twenty-first century. Containing over a million artworks and objects, it covers all aspects of the fine and decorative arts, from paintings by Rembrandt and Michelangelo to grand sculpture, Faberge eggs and some of the most exquisite furniture ever made. The Royal Collection also offers a revealing insight into the history of the British monarchy from William the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth II, recording the tastes and obsessions of kings and queens over the past 500 years. With unprecedented access to the royal residences of St James' Palace, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, Art, Passion & Power traces the history of this national institution from the Middle Ages to the present day, exploring how royalty used the arts to strengthen their position as rulers by divine right and celebrating treasures from the Crown Jewels to the "Abraham" tapestries in Hampton Court Palace. Author Michael Hall examines the monarchy's response to changing attitudes to the arts and sciences during the Enlightenment and celebrates the British monarchy's role in the democratisation of art in the modern world. Packed with glimpses of rarely seen artworks, Art, Passion & Power is a visual treat for all art enthusiasts. Accompanying the BBC television series and a major exhibition at the Royal Academy, Art, Passion & Power is the definitive statement on the British monarchy's treasures of the art world.

An utterly charming and heart-warming love story and the perfect tonic for difficult times. Daisy is the night security guard at the Manchester Museum of Social History. She takes her job very seriously, protecting the museum from teenage troublemakers. Nate works the day shift, though he'd be more suited as a museum guide the way he chats with the visitors. Daisy doesn't approve: how does he find it so easy to talk to strangers? For five minutes each day their shifts overlap at handover. He passes the torch over to Daisy - always with a smile on his face, and she asks him for a full report of the day, which he gives reluctantly. It's the only interaction they have... until mysterious things begin to happen at the museum. They soon discover they have a lot more in common than they realised... and their investigations uncover more than just the truth. Could they have feelings for one another?

Writers’ relationships with their surroundings are seldom straightforward. While some, like Jane Austen and Thomas Mann, wrote novels set where they were staying (Lyme Regis and Venice respectively), Victor Hugo penned Les Misérables in an attic in Guernsey and Noël Coward wrote that most English of plays, Blithe Spirit, in the Welsh holiday village of Portmeirion.

Award-winning BBC drama producer Adrian Mourby follows his literary heroes around the world, exploring 50 places where great works of literature first saw the light of day. At each destination – from the Brontës’ Yorkshire Moors to the New York of Truman Capote, Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin to the now-legendary Edinburgh café where J.K. Rowling plotted Harry Potter’s first adventures – Mourby explains what the writer was doing there and describes what the visitor can find today of that great moment in literature.

Rooms of One’s Own takes you on a literary journey from the British Isles to Paris, Berlin, New Orleans, New York and Bangkok and unearths the real-life places behind our best-loved works of literature.

This highly-illustrated book reveals a brand-new story of the royal castle of Lincoln - how it was imposed on the late Anglo-Saxon town and how it developed over the next 900 years in the hands of the king or his aristocratic associates. Today, we have been left a surviving monument of three great towers, each with its own biography. Led by FAS Heritage, archaeologists, architectural historians and a large cohort of the general public have come together to produce a revealing and accessible account of the story of Lincoln Castle; in doing so, we gain further insight into the history, culture and society of medieval England.

Olympia is part of the volume entitled "treasures of the Greek Museums" which introduces the reader to the priceless works of art housed in the museums of Greece. The texts, written by experts, furnish details of the historical and cultural context of these masterpieces. The most important achaeological sites are also presented, with exclusive aerial photographs and other lavish illustrations.