In this autobiographical account of a lifetime spent observing, researching and photographing birds, Peter Steyn shares experiences that span some 70 years.

His story starts and ends in Cape Town, South Africa, but in between we read about:

• the 17 years he spent in Zimbabwe – his most productive in terms of ornithological research
• his worldwide travels in a quest to study birds
• his regular spells as a lecturer on cruise-ship voyages
• trips from the Arctic to the Antarctic, to remote Southern Ocean islands and to several Indian Ocean islands and St Helena
• travels also to the USA, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Ethiopia – all in pursuit of birds

His detailed and fascinating memoir captures the author’s great enthusiasm for birds and their role in his shaping his life and experiences.

Kingdom of Daylight: Memories of a Birdwatcher is well illustrated and features more than 400 photographs taken during Peter’s lifelong journey with birds.

In this majestic book, new South African president Cyril Ramaphosa reveals his passion and love for cattle as he introduces us to the magnificent Ankole cattle, originating in Uganda, and now, through his intervention, flourishing in South Africa.

He reflects on the legacy bequeathed him by his father, Samuel Ramaphosa, who had to leave behind his cattle herd in Venda to find work as a migrant worker in Johannesburg. Life in the city was tough and demanding, weakening Samuel’s links with his ancestral origins and causing the loss of his herd. The love of cattle runs deep in South Africans and Cyril is doing more than restoring his father’s loss, he is resuscitating a new pride for South Africans with these remarkable cattle.

The Ankole have become the flavour de jour. A few years ago the Nguni reigned supreme, now the attention and focus is on these regal animals with their soaring horns. Cattle of the Ages is the Abundant Herds of the Ankole.

This hardcover book is designed by Gabrielle Guy and is destined to become a collector’s piece.

This Is South Africa, now updated in a new edition, takes the reader on a journey of discovery through this spectacular land. It showcases the country’s breathtaking natural splendours and incomporable array of flora and fauna, its pulsating cities, the warmth of its people and the intriguing mix of its many cultures.

This superb book features more than 300 vivid new photographs, supported by a detailed introduction and informative captions.

Epic Land is a celebration in pictures and words of the arresting beauty of the landscapes of Namibia and of the centrality of land in the culture, history, politics and daily lives of its people. The book seeks to uncover the rare essence that marks the landscape of Namibia apart from all others.

Few countries in the world are richer than Namibia in its canvas of natural beauty. The landscape is one of rich and often harsh contrast with many changing moods. A journey through its landscape is infinitely rewarding. Within this book this progression is depicted. The dramatic scenery of remote deserts, mountains, mystical trees and stormy shores are the equal of any.

Through her captivating photographs and absorbing text, Amy Schoeman shares with the reader the strange beauties of her life’s passion. The superb photographs capture the life of the desert, its forms and colours, and the moods of its ever-changing landscapes.

The mostly edible garden of Babylonstoren in the Drakenstein Valley of the Cape Winelands has become a must-see for all visitors to the region. Not simply because it is beautiful, but because it offers a mesmerising range of experiences to both the day tripper and hotel guest, encompassing history, insight into the workings of a productive farm and food garden, and how the land can be cultivated along diversifi ed yet integrated principles.

As co-author Franchesca Watson says, ‘The way Babylonstoren expresses itself visually is inordinately charming. Every material is simple and intrinsic, nothing is smart or clever or tacky, everything is understandable and fi lled with sincerity; it is a generous place.’

This visually stunning coffee-table book covers every aspect of the 3.5-hectare garden: its design, Cape Dutch history, plants, cultivation methods and the people behind it all.

Four years. Seven continents. An unprecedented quest to document and preserve our last remaining wild lands.

In more than 200 striking images, acclaimed South African photographers Peter and Beverly Pickford have created an epic, unparalleled portrait of some of our planet’s most untouched places: from the heat-beaten country of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast to Alaska and the Yukon’s abundance of water, in ocean, river and lake; from the subantarctic islands’ wind-tossed shores in the south to the Arctic’s immense expanses of cracked pancake ice in the north; and the dazzling juxtaposition of desert and water in Australia’s Kimberley to the remote, frozen peaks of Tibet and Patagonia. Within these extreme landscapes, Beverly and Peter’s images illuminate and celebrate myriad forms of life: polar bears, rhinoceroses and bharal, as well as the humble lichen, are all evocatively pictured within the landscapes upon which they depend. This is a wildlife book like no other, its images aching with what words struggle to describe: the resonance of wilderness in our inner being, the power of land to transform our emotion, and our ability to transcend the immediate to become sublime.

Wild Land’s stunning images are accompanied by a fascinating text in which Peter not only vividly describes the photographers’ adventures in pursuit of wild land, but also delivers a timely message that highlights the urgent need for these lands to be preserved for the future of the planet – a future on which humankind’s very survival is dependent.

The safari design aesthetic has yoked hi-tech, high-end architecture with traditional low-tech African craft and fused them in a new genre of highly original, courageous and soulful – even sexy – architecture and interiors. This is design that, while rooted in Africa, possesses an international appeal that is beginning to influence aesthetic ideas the world over.

Safari Style Africa showcases a selection of lodges where these elements of design dialogue beautifully with the environment.

Told with the immediacy of a diary, which is where the book began, Patrick takes us on a journey to the highest mountain in the world, where one of the greatest tragedies in climbing history was about to unfold. Filled with photographs and sketches from his notebooks we become part of the Radio 702 team sent to cover the South African Everest Expedition of 1996. It would turn out to be the deadliest climbing seasons in the peak’s history.

Twenty years later the controversy around what truly happened on the mountain continues to rage. Conroy kept a meticulous diary and recorded many hours of radio communications between the climbers. Now, two decades later, his memoirs reveal a remarkable and untold story of what happened on the mountain that fateful year. Everest Untold includes hidden insights and never before revealed transcripts that shed new light on the 1996 disaster, including the mysterious disappearance of one of the South African team members in the death zone.

Conroy’s hidden story reopens the debate on the risks of high-altitude mountaineering and what it meant to a young democratic South Africa unaware of the dangers that lay ahead.

This is an African cookbook that takes inspiration from all over the world, highlighting specific African regions and food cultures. The book features North, East, South and West African cuisine as well as the Middle Eastern, South East Asian and European recipes that have influenced and sculpted the food scene in South Africa over centuries.

Nico Verster compiled this recipe book to capture the essence of African food. He was inspired by traditional recipes but has added his own signature twist to each dish. This book highlights the modern diversity in the current gastronomic scene and reminds you why you love Africa.

With stunning photography from award-winning Jo Dreyer, the recipes will inspire you to make your own stocks, spice mixes, chutneys and sauces that can be used with an array of local dishes, as well as give you simple tips on making the most delicious cakes and desserts.

Johannesburg: Egoli to some, Jozi to others. Once a mining town, now the most important commercial city in Africa. It’s been home to renegades and rogues, colonialists and capitalists, the dispossessed and the newly enriched. Today it’s populated by those who call themselves Africans or Afrikaners, by blacks, whites and every shade inbetween, and by immigrants from all over.

There are suburbs where the daily rituals of Jewish culture rival New York’s; elsewhere, the tone is more Lagos than laid-back. Remnants of the colonial era stand alongside contemporary steel and glass. In a town that prides itself on the pursuit of fortune, it’s a challenge to preserve heritage, and it is against this background that Hidden Johannesburg offers a snapshot of 28 notable buildings. From the stately mansions of the Randlords to their downtown headquarters, the clubs where they socialised and the churches where they worshipped, the architecture of early Johannesburg lives on in sandstone, granite, marble and slate. But this is a city that constantly reinvents itself, and where the old is all-too-readily demolished to make way for the next ‘big thing’. Some buildings will survive, others will be consigned to memory.

Hidden Johannesburg reveals fragments of the history of this vibrant city but, perhaps, the book also tells us something about our future, for if we allow our heritage to be swept away in the name of progress, are we advancing at all?

67 of South Africa's finest cooks, chefs, gardeners, bakers, farmers, foragers and local food heroes let us into their homes - and their hearts - as they share the recipes they make for the people they love.

Each recipe is accompanied by stunning original photography that captures the essence of our beautiful country.

Featuring over 130 recipes, from tried and true classics to contemporary fare, The Great South African Cookbook showcases the diversity and creativity of South Africa's vibrant, unique food culture.

The killing of thirty-four miners by police at Marikana in August 2012 was the largest massacre of civilians in South Africa since Sharpeville. The events have been covered in newspaper articles, on TV news and in a commission of inquiry, but there is still confusion about what happened on that fateful day.

In Murder At Small Koppie, renowned photojournalist Greg Marinovich explores the truth behind the Marikana massacre. He investigates the shootings near Wonderkop hill, which happened in view of the media, as well as the killings that happened beyond the view of cameras at a nondescript collection of boulders known as Small Koppie, some 300 metres away. Many of the men killed here were shot in cold blood at close range. Drawing on his own meticulous research, eyewitness accounts and the findings of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, Marinovich accurately reconstructs that fateful day as well as the events leading up to the strike, and looks at the subsequent denials, obfuscation and buck-passing by Lonmin, the SAPS and the government.

This is the definitive account of the Marikana massacre from the journalist whose award-winning investigation into the tragedy has been called the most important piece of South African journalism since apartheid.

From the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature comes the first English translation of her latest work, an oral history of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia. Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive documentary style, Second-Hand Time is a monument to the collapse of the USSR, charting the decline of Soviet culture and speculating on what will rise from the ashes of Communism. As in all her books, Alexievich gives voice to women and men whose stories are lost in the official narratives of nation-states, creating a powerful alternative history from the personal and private stories of individuals. ‘Communism had an insane plan: to refashion the “old” breed of man, ancient Adam,’ writes Alexievich. ‘This was perhaps communism’s only achievement. Seventy plus years in the Marxist-Leninist laboratory gave rise to a new kind of man, the Homo sovieticus.’ In this magnificent requiem Alexievich’s method is simple: ‘I don’t ask people about socialism, I ask about love, jealousy, childhood, old age. Music, dances, hairstyles. The myriad sundry details of a vanished way of life… It never ceases to amaze me how interesting ordinary, everyday life is. There are an endless number of human truths… I am fascinated by people.’ From this fascination emerges a hugely important and deeply moving portrait of post-Soviet society. In a nation that likewise grapples with making sense of scattershot historical experience, Alexievich’s portraits may make the South African reader draw unexpected and uncomfortable parallels between Russia post-1990 and South Africa post-1994.

This book showcases the very best of the photography as judged in the Sustainable Seas Trust 2013/14 competition. The extraordinary, prize-winning photographs are accompanied by illuminating essays from leading scientists, sports people and others whose lives are intimately connected with the seas.

It also serves as a call to create a South African network of Hope Spots, which are special, people-orientated marine conservation areas.

The hope is that, with the close involvement of the communities that live near and depend on the seas, we can safeguard our natural resources.

An instant Number One New York Times bestseller, Humans of New York began in the summer of 2010, when photographer Brandon Stanton set out on an ambitious project: to single-handedly create a photographic census of New York City. Armed with his camera, he began crisscrossing the city, covering thousands of miles on foot, all in his attempt to capture ordinary New Yorkers in the most extraordinary of moments. The result of these efforts was "Humans of New York," a vibrant blog in which he featured his photos alongside quotes and anecdotes.

The blog has steadily grown, now boasting nearly a million devoted followers. Humans of New York is the book inspired by the blog. With four hundred colour photos, including exclusive portraits and all-new stories, and a distinctive vellum jacket, Humans of New York is a stunning collection of images that will appeal not just to those who have been drawn in by the outsized personalities of New York, but to anyone interested in the breathtaking scope of humanity it displays.

Heartfelt and moving, Humans of New York is a celebration of individuality and a tribute to the spirit of a city.

Grace Kelly s life may have transformed from Hollywood star to Princess of Monaco, but her status as a style icon remained constant throughout her life, as evidenced by her thirty-year-long relationship with the illustrious house of Dior. Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Musee Christian Dior in Granville, France, this sophisticated volume celebrates the close collaboration between Grace Kelly and Dior s artistic directors, from Christian Dior to Marc Bohan, who dressed her and her family for more than twenty years. This in-depth overview explores the evolving relationship between Dior s designers and their muse through insights from experts on Dior and Monaco s royals including a text penned by Princess Grace s favorite couturier Marc Bohan and beautiful images from Dior s archives as well as an exclusive photo shoot in the Prince s Palace of Monaco. Fashion-loving readers will be delighted to rediscover the classic elegance of Grace Kelly s wardrobe through the gorgeous designs created for her by Dior.

"Oxford still remains the most beautiful thing in England, and nowhere else are life and art so exquisitely blended, so perfectly made into one." Oscar Wilde Oxford has for centuries inspired and delighted, and its beauty and antiquity have been celebrated by some of the most famous writers and artists in history. The unique characteristics of Oxford are captured in this stunning photographic collection - the famous colleges and grand buildings, the parks, the riverside walks and the wide streets. From Boars Hill to South Park, this beautiful book explores the familiar and the hidden Oxford. Extracts of poetry and prose from famous writers such as Lewis Carroll, Evelyn Waugh, Samuel Pepys, Dorothy L. Sayers and Jan Morris complement the images perfectly, creating a memorable portrait of this much-loved city.

The Colour of Time spans more than a hundred years of world history from the reign of Queen Victoria and the US Civil War to the Cuban Missile Crisis and beginning of the Space Age. It charts the rise and fall of empires, the achievements of science, industry and the arts, the tragedies of war and the politics of peace, and the lives of men and women who made history. The book is a collaboration between a gifted Brazilian artist and a leading British historian. Marina Amaral has created 200 stunning images, using contemporary photographs as the basis for her full-colour digital renditions. Dan Jones has written a narrative that anchors each image in its context, and weaves them into a vivid account of the world that we live in today. A fusion of amazing pictures and well-chosen words, The Colour of Time offers a unique - and often beautiful - perspective on the past. This compact edition of The Colour of Time makes the perfect gift for anyone (and not just anyone interested in history).

Sea Change takes you on an evocative journey into the secret life of an almost unknown ecosystem; the beautiful kelp forest of Southern Africa. Craig and Ross spent eight years exploring this sea forest together, diving almost every day. This is the story of what they found in the wild, and how it has transformed their lives.

CRAIG FOSTER is an award-winning filmmaker and avid naturalist. He has received over sixty international awards, including the Golden Panda, the “Oscar” of natural history filmmaking. He grew up foraging and diving on the Cape Peninsula and for the past eight years has pledged to dive in the kelp forest 365 times a year. Craig has worked closely with some of the world’s top kelp forest biologists, archaeologists, anthropologists and San rock art experts. He also spent many years studying with master San bushmen trackers in the Kalahari and it is from these experiences that he formed his underwater tracking method. This is his fourth book.

ROSS FRYLINCK has been exploring the South African coastline as a surfer and free-diver for most of his life. He started the Wavescape Ocean Festival, and has been pioneering ocean conservation and culture in South Africa for the past 15 years. He was once a commissioning editor for Cambridge University Press, and has been telling stories about the sea since his first school essay..

Daniel Meadows is a pioneer of contemporary British documentary practice. His photographs and audio recordings, made over forty-five years, capture the life of England's `great ordinary'. Challenging the status quo by working collaboratively, he has fashioned from his many encounters a nation's story both magical and familiar. This book includes important work from Meadows' ground-breaking projects, drawing on the archives now held at the Bodleian Library. Fiercely independent, Meadows devised many of his creative processes: he ran a free portrait studio in Manchester's Moss Side in 1972, then travelled 10,000 miles making a national portrait from his converted double-decker the Free Photographic Omnibus, a project he revisited a quarter of a century later. At the turn of the millennium he adopted new `kitchen table' technologies to make digital stories: `multimedia sonnets from the people', as he called them. He sometimes returned to those he had photographed, listening for how things were and how they had changed. Through their unique voices he finds a moving and insightful commentary on life in Britain. Then and now. Now and then.

All the winning and shortlisted images from the 2017 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The images are submitted in one of the following categories: Image Categories * Earth and Space * Our Solar System * Deep Space * Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year Special Prize Categories * Best Newcomer * People and Space * Robotic Scope Each image is accompanied by caption, photographer, location and technical details. Exhibition Every year the Royal Observatory, Greenwich hosts a free exhibition of the winners of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, showcasing some incredible images of the sky. www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto

South Africa has lost 116 indigenous flower species to three extinction categories: 'Extinct', 'Extinct in the Wild' and 'Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct'. Mindful of the fact that extinctions are mainly due to people, Cape-based photographer Anneke Kearney compiled this photographic record of endangered plants to make people aware of the dire future of our beautiful plants, so that nobody can say, 'I didn't know'. Cape Town has more threatened species than any other area in the country. The most important other hotspots are Coega, Albany, Pondoland, KwaZulu-Natal midlands and Drakensberg, Magaliesberg, Sekhukhuneland-Drakensberg and Barberton. Renowned botanist and conservation campaigner, Dr Tony Rebelo, says in the Foreword that a call to action is not just for us. "It is for our children. It is not just for esoteric and idealist reasons. Thousands of visitors come ...every year just for the biodiversity. Hundreds of thousands more have it as one of the reasons for their visit. Our health, our relaxation, our existence is enhanced by living in a biodiversity showcase. The Littlest Kingdom on earth must retain its splendour ...there is space for everyone, including the biodiversity that occurs nowhere else on earth. This book with its spectacular photographs of rare and little seen plants, is sure to make a huge contribution to raising awareness of and spreading critical information on our indigenous flora.

THE BOOK BEHIND THE HIT CHANNEL 5 DOCUMENTARY

A glimpse of life inside the world’s most secretive country, as told by Britain’s best-loved travel writer.

In May 2018, former Monty Python stalwart and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin spent two weeks in the notoriously secretive Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a cut-off land without internet or phone signal, where the countryside has barely moved beyond a centuries-old peasant economy but where the cities have gleaming skyscrapers and luxurious underground train stations. His resulting documentary for Channel 5 was widely acclaimed.

Now he shares his day-by-day diary of his visit, in which he describes not only what he saw – and his fleeting views of what the authorities didn’t want him to see – but recounts the conversations he had with the country’s inhabitants, talks candidly about his encounters with officialdom, and records his musings about a land wholly unlike any other he has ever visited – one that inspires fascination and fear in equal measure.

Written with Palin’s trademark warmth and wit, and illustrated with beautiful colour photographs throughout, the journal offers a rare insight into the North Korea behind the headlines.

Ons praat Afrikaans – diverse mense – een taal is meer as net nog ’n fotoboek: dit is die eindproduk van ’n projek wat sy ontstaan gevind het in een individu se liefde vir die Afrikaanse kultuur en taal, Douw Greeff. Die projek is geloods in 2016 toe fotograwe (amateur en ook professioneel) genader is om werke in te skryf wat hulle voel die Afrikaanse kultuur en taal raakvat. Verskeie inskrywings is ontvang en die top foto’s het deurgegaan na ’n beoordelings-rondte, waar ’n paneel die beste foto’s gekies het om in hierdie pragpublikasie te pronk.