With a coastline that rivals California s, Maine attracts millions of visitors each year who come to swim, fish, hike, or just enjoy the views. Many of the images present a near panoramic scope, placing the viewer in the middle of a wilderness splendor. The photographs capture the region s famous sandy beaches, tree-covered mountains, tidepools brimming with life, and secluded harbors, as well as quaint villages, historic lighthouses, cranberry bogs, and lobster boats. Chapters cover Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, and Portland to Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert Island, and Cobscook Bay. A central focus is Acadia National Park, one of the top ten most visited national parks in America. Nearby, the town of Bar Harbor hosts more than eighty cruise ships each year. The book also celebrates offshore Maine, with images of whales, puffins, and other elusive sea creatures. The Coast of Maine makes an affordable and charming gift for anyone planning, or dreaming of, a visit to this glorious region.

The Lark Ascending, Ralph Vaughan Williams' 'pastoral romance for orchestra' was premiered on 14 June, 1921. Over the course of the twentieth century this piece of music, perhaps more than any other, worked its way into the collective consciousness to seemingly define a mythical concept of the English countryside: babbling brooks, skylarks, hayricks. But the birth and legacy of the composition are much more complex than this simplified pastoral vision suggests. The landscape we celebrate as unsullied and ripe with mystique is a living, working, and occasionally rancorous environment - not an unaffected idyll - that forged a nation's musical personality, and its dissenting traditions.

On a chronological journey that takes him from postwar poets and artists to the late twentieth century and the free party scene which emerged from acid house and travelling communities, Richard King explores how Britain's history and identity has been shaped by the mysterious relationship between music and nature. From the far west of Wales to the Thames Estuary and the Suffolk shoreline, taking in Brian Eno, Kate Bush, Boards of Canada, Dylan Thomas, Gavin Bryars, Greenham Common and The Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, The Lark Ascending listens to the land and the music that emerged from it, to chart a new and surprising course through a familiar landscape.

The Camelopard, The Monstrous Pig, The Famous Porcupine, Durer's Rhinoceros: these are but a few of the beautiful and bizarre creatures that feature in this delightful book. In the visual arts of the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries in Europe, animals were understood in relation to the human world, whether as animals of the farm, estate or household, beasts of burden or as diversions in menageries and travelling shows. At the same time, rapidly increasing investigation of the natural world engaged artists in the problems of accurate representation: prints were particularly important in distributing natural historical information (or misinformation) across a wide, international audience. This beautifully illustrated book explores perceptions of the natural world as seen through the eyes of imaginative artists: works by Goya, Stubbs and Bewick stand alongside prints by lesser-known artists, each selected for its graphic strength, charm and narrative interest. Featured are natural history studies, masterpieces from the British Museum's exceptional collection of classical old master prints, book illustrations, satires and popular prints to beautifully capture the diversity and appeal of early modern print culture. Visually stunning, entertaining and intriguing, this book explores humankind's enduring curiosity about the animal world.

Nothing makes a fantasy fan's imagination catch fire like the dragon, one of the most enduringly popular beasts of legend. Now, with DragonArt, readers can learn how to bring these mythical creatures to life, with: More than 30 lessons broken down into simple colour-coded steps, from basic shapes, to details including claws and wings, to spectacular finished dragons and beasts Full-coloured illustrations to captivate and inspire readers A playful, engaging text that includes "historical facts about dragons" Additional step-by-step demonstrations covering other fantasy creatures, such as wyverns, basilisks and gargoyles Extra hints, tips & tricks provided by DragonArt's dragon mascot, Dolosus With the tips and suggestions in DragonArt, fantasy lovers can let their imaginations soar.

Julia Trickey, whose botanical watercolours have won numerous awards including four RHS gold medals, has illustrated three sets of pictorial stamps featuring wild flowers of Great Britain for Royal Mail's Post & Go series. The process involved in this project is chronicled in Plant Portraits by Post, where you can see initial drawings, the work in progress and read about the issues encountered and the painting techniques employed.

This is the story of Marianne North, an unmarried middle-aged Victorian lady of comfortable means, set off in 1871 on her first expedition to make a pictorial record of the tropical and exotic plants of the world. Marianne produced more than 800 paintings which are housed in a special gallery at Kew. Now in second edtion, this book provides an overview of her paintings and the Marianne North Gallery (built under her patronage) where almost all her paintings hang, the history of the gallery and its architecture and its restoration. The beautiful gift book details Marianne's life and travels, fully illustrated throughout with her stunning botanical paintings. This second edition of the bestseller features updated information and the new format allows Marianne's paintings to be reproduced on a larger scale.

Following official protection of natural environments for public benefit in Fontainebleau Forest in France (1861) and in Yosemite (1864) and Yellowstone (1872) in the USA, the New Forest Act of 1877 marked the first major instance in Britain. Art and artists were involved in this achievement to a greater extent than in all preceding cases. For the first time, and within an ecocritical framework, this study examines the role played by art during the previous anti-enclosure campaign - highlighting both the hitherto-unacknowledged extent of German influence in terms of the original artistic initiative and of German artists' participation in the cause, as well as the significance of connections between landscape art of the day and priorities of the early Open Spaces movement. Ecocriticism in art history With works by the German and British artists George Bouverie Goddard, Wilhelm Kumpel, Alfred Pizzi Newton, Wilhelm Trautschold, Edmund George Warren

Cats playing a quiet game of cards, cats at the ballet, cats having a leisurely lunch on the grass, cats boating on the river... Here are the quintessential Impressionist cats, painted with vivid, joyous colours in their favourite haunts, at their ease in various ordinary activities. With their pensive, brooding expressions, cats lend themselves perfectly to reimagining the great works of the Impressionist masters, whether strolling among Monet's wild poppies, sitting in Mary Cassatt's loge at the opera, or even enjoying a Sunday dance at Renoir's Bougival. They can be charming or steeped in mute despair, vulgar or lovingly maternal, bourgeois or intellectual - but they are always Impressionist cats, caught as if by the camera, spontaneous and unprepared.

A delightfully quirky, cute, and funny guide to horoscopes told through adorable dog photographs.

With the help of a collection of sweet and hilarious dog pictures, Dogstrology will unlock all the secrets of the stars that you need to know, including:

• Each of the signs at their best and worst (and the perfect pup to illustrate them)
• The common traits of each element and modality in the zodiac
• What do you and your "sister sign" have in common? Find out, with the perfect dog photo to complement it.
• And of course: the right dog for you, based on your star sign!