The "Illustrated History of Leicester's Suburbs" shows, through a fine selection of photographs from the Leicester Mercury and Leicestershire Record Office, how the countryside, farms and villages developed into the urban streets, residential areas, shopping districts and industrial estates that are so familiar today. In the course of the last 150 years, the outskirts of the city have been transformed, and they would have expanded in a way that would astonish Leicester residents of just a few generations ago.In this detailed and fully-illustrated account of the suburbs, Christine Jordan offers a concise history of each district, but she also features local anecdotes, myths and folklore, and she remembers remarkable, sometimes bizarre, episodes and notable individuals who played their part in the story. Her survey will be essential reading and reference for everyone who takes an interest in their neighbourhood and in the complex, surprising history of the city itself.Leicester evolved over the centuries, gradually at first, then swiftly during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the space of a few generations, small villages on the periphery were absorbed by the city's expansion. But Christine Jordan shows how these villages retained an identity, and their names have lived on in the urban areas that surround the centre. The origins and development of districts as diverse as Aylestone, Braunstone, Stoneygate, Evington, Spinney Hills and Clarendon Park are recalled in her account, as are the stories of the many other communities that make up the modern city.

The stunning photographs and evocative text in this volume capture the essence of Tangier life from the 1920s to the present day. Paul and Jane Bowles, the American painter Marguerite McBay, Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, playwright Tennessee Williams, royal photographer Cecil Beaton, and the painters Claudio Bravo and Patrick Procktor are some of the legendary residents of this Moroccan port city portrayed in these reminiscences and candid portraits. Personal family photographs depict the extravagant parties hosted and attended by the author and her circle. The evolution of design and style in some of the great houses as they changed ownership is documented, demonstrating how the composition of life in this archetypal city unfolded throughout the 20th century.

Lighthouses may stand watchfully over serene waters one day and be bombarded by immense waves the next. They may look out on the most spectacular views, mark the entrance to a busy harbour or be placed in some of the world's most desolate locations. To seafarers they are guiding lights in dangerous waters, but, once decommissioned, they can acquire an air of mystery. They are the most strictly functional of all civilian buildings and yet they can be surprisingly beautiful and varied in design. Are they square, cylindrical or octagonal? Are they single structures or towers on top of other buildings? Are they made of wood, stone, brick, or concrete? Are they coloured with stripes or bands? From Lake Michigan to the Arctic Circle, from the British Isles to Brazil, Lighthouses celebrates more than 200 structures and the stunning vistas that surround them. Taking examples from all around the world, the book features an immense array of operating and disused lighthouses from the 18th century to the present day, from those marking ocean coastlines to structures besides lakes and on rivers, from lighthouses cloaked in ice to Art Deco classics to tilting structures abandoned in sand dunes. Presented in a handy pocket-sized format, Lighthouses is arranged geographically, with more than 200 colour photographs and captions explaining the construction, operation and history of each entry.

Featuring more than 200 intriguing images taken by space probes travelling billions of kilometres from Earth, The Solar System is an exhilarating exploration of the mysteries of our local planetary space. Within the span of a human lifetime, our spacecraft have visited all eight planets of the Solar System, together with several dwarf planets, asteroids and comets. We have mapped the surface of Mercury and Venus in exquisite detail, landed rovers on Mars, placed orbiters around Jupiter and Saturn, and parachuted to the surface of Titan. Our emissaries have visited icy worlds five billion kilometres from home and continued onwards to reach interstellar space. The pictures and science returned by these intrepid travellers have transformed our understanding of the Solar System in which we live.