London is one of the world's greatest cities. Filled with people of all races, religions and nationalities, and packed with energy, it is a dynamic melting pot and a colourful testimony to the human spirit. Over five years, photographer Richard Slater has traversed the streets of the city, photographing, meeting and talking with ordinary Londoners from all walks of life. The result is this rich and vibrant celebration of London in its many different guises. Accompanied by insightful commentary that tells the stories behind the images, the book features London's tribes - whether identified by class, wealth, or taste; the extraordinary number of faith groups; the population's diversity of race and ethnicity; the creative and political life of London's streets; the numerous festivals and celebrations that take place throughout the year; and, finally, the many surprises that lie hidden within the metropolis. Utterly unique, People in London is a celebration of diversity, and a love letter to this great city.

Micronesia, Hawaii, Polynesia, Bora Bora, Seychelles, Maldives, Australia - where does the mind go when imagining such places. Drawn from the best travel blogs and Instagram images, this book brings together the most beautiful locations near, on, or under water. From eco resorts to remote, pristine islands; from sailing on ultra-blue oceans to diving in translucent waters; in aerial and underwater photography, the focus is on finding paradise. Whether thinking about a trip or longing for sun and sand, this book is where those daydreams begin.

'Heartwarming, magical and uplifting' In today's throwaway culture, there's a counter movement growing that urges us to 'make do and mend'. The BBC's The Repair Shop has brought this waste-conscious message to an even wider audience, with its regular viewing figures of 7 million in the UK alone, cementing itself as a classic series in the vein of Antiques Roadshow. This new book concentrates on the show's much-loved experts, including woodworker and furniture restorer Will Kirk, clock restorer Steve Fletcher, metalworker Dominic Chinea, silversmith Brenton West, leatherworker Suzie Fletcher, upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary, and seamstresses Julie Tatchell & Amanda Middleditch - aka The Teddy Bear Ladies. Each of the experts shares their own stories and their repairs, capturing in the process the magic and ethos of the barn. Includes quotations and Q & As from the experts as well as Jay Blades on some unique restoration collaborations. With the focus on the experts themselves, readers will feel as though they're stepping straight into the 'workshop of dreams' and experiencing first hand the magic of the barn.

This is the first book on Iran to combine travelogue with in-depth historical reflection/getting to the heart of the Iranian Islamic mind. This is a reflective look at the cultural heritage and present nuclear crisis in Iran. Iran's cultural and spiritual heritage is now threatened by policies that may trigger international intervention. A source of Western civilization, it may be destroyed by its main beneficiary, Western civilization.This travelogue is a tour of Iran and explores the rich history of this pivotal country: the Achaemenians (Cyrus/Darius/Xerxes), the Sasanians, the Zoroastrian religion of 2,500 years ago; the Islamic period, the Safavids, and the Revolution which dethroned the Shah and made Iran an Islamic Republic. The Islamic idea is caught by observations of the well of the Hidden Imam and of its expression through the architecture, tiles and calligraphy of historical mosques. The Revolution is brought to life by visits to Ayatollah Khomeini's living rooms in Qom and Tehran, and to the Shah's White Palace. And the confrontational policy of contemporary Iran that threatens to engulf Iran's cultural heritage in the same way that Saddam's policy wreaked havoc on Iraq's cultural legacy is caught in a drive past the nuclear site at Natanz, which has many anti-aircraft guns round it.

Gore Vidal's reputation as America's finest essayist is an enduring one. This collection, chosen by the author from 40 years of work, contains about two-thirds of what he published in various magazines and journals. He has divided the essays into three categories, or states. State of the art covers literature, including novelists and critics, bestsellers, pieces on Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Suetonius, Nabakov and Montaigne (a previosly uncollected essay from 1992). State of the union deals with politics and public life: sex, drugs, money, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, The Holy Family (his essay on the Kennedys), Nixon, and finally Monotheism and its Discontents , a scathing critique of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In state of being, we are given personal responses to people and events: recollections of his childhood, E. Nesbit, Tarzan, Tennessee Williams and Anais Nin.

As Vietnam moves towards urbanisation, the country's agricultural labour force faces losing its land to urban projects - and its way of life. The country's growing population is reducing the availability of farming land and rural families, no longer able to sustain themselves from the land, are turning to the creation of various products. These 'craft' villages have become the meeting place between rural and urban, agriculture and industry. During the last decade, along with rapid national economic development many craft villages have increased production up to five fold through small-scale industrial development. However, the consequence of this shift is increased waste and environmental pollution with the resources of the landscape becoming overused. Tessa Bunney spent two six month periods in Vietnam and visited many of these villages. The traditional village house is typically single storey and consists of three rooms. The large central room is a multi-purpose living, sleeping and working area and it is in this room where many of Tessa's images are taken, the mix of work and everyday objects fascinating her visually. Interspersed with images from daily life in the rice fields and in the villages, these photographs depict 'working from home' in an unromanticized sense, where their subjects, mostly women, balance childcare with the routine work necessary for survival.

The perfect companion to experiencing everything that America's most famous road has to offer, The Route 66 Photo Road Trip guides the reader from Amarillo to Las Vegas, with recommendations for dining and lodging, lists of attractions, itineraries and tips for capturing memorable photographs with professional gear or a phone.

The year is 1976 and Jack Sheffield never wants to leave his job. Jack has been the deputy head teacher at Newbridge Primary School for six years now, and he's happy exactly where he is - even if it sometimes feels like there are a few things missing from his life. After all, the kids keep him busy and there's always a game of rugby to play. But it's a time of change, and Jack's world is no exception. New and old faces appear in his life and a romance blossoms, bringing with it a buried secret and hidden threat. Soon, Jack must make a decision as to where his future is heading, and prepare to face whatever change is yet to come . . . A classic Jack Sheffield tale, ready to transport you back to a simpler time. _____________________ Praise for Jack Sheffield: 'Wry observation and heartwarming humour in equal measure.' Alan Titchmarsh 'Overflowing with amusing anecdotes.' Daily Express 'Amusing adventures at the North Yorkshire village school.' Choice 'Jack Sheffield's in a class of his own.' York Press

Eighty miles south of Savannah lies St. Simons Island, one of the most beloved seaside destinations in Georgia and home to some twenty thousand year-round residents. In "Island Time," Jingle Davis and Benjamin Galland offer a fascinating history and stunning visual celebration of this coastal community.
Prehistoric people established some of North America's first permanent settlements on St. Simons, leaving three giant shell rings as evidence of their occupation. People from other diverse cultures also left their mark: Mocama and Guale Indians, Spanish friars, pirates and privateers, British soldiers and settlers, German religious refugees, and aristocratic antebellum planters. Enslaved Africans and their descendants forged the unique Gullah Geechee culture that survives today. Davis provides a comprehensive history of St. Simons, connecting its stories to broader historical moments. Timbers for Old Ironsides were hewn from St. Simons's live oaks during the Revolutionary War. Aaron Burr fled to St. Simons after killing Alexander Hamilton. Susie Baker King Taylor became the first black person to teach openly in a freedmen's school during her stay on the island. Rachel Carson spent time on St. Simons, which she wrote about in "The Edge of the Sea."
The island became a popular tourist destination in the 1800s, with visitors arriving on ferries until a causeway opened in 1924. Davis describes the challenges faced by the community with modern growth and explains how St. Simons has retained the unique charm and strong sense of community that it is known for today. Featuring more than two hundred contemporary photographs, historical images, and maps, "Island Time" is an essential book for people interested in the Georgia coast.
A Friends Fund Publication.

James Morris challenges the tourist cliches and looks at the impact of human presence and the layers history in the landscape. He reflects upon issues of identity, exploitation and regeneration; it is a land of beauty and of hardship where - in this post industrial, post rural economy - Tesco and tourism are now the great employers. These are the contrasting realities of the Welsh landscape - that seen by the many visitors and that experienced by most inhabitants. Morris moves between tourist hot spots and the terraces and back streets where the majority of people live. The latter are often hard bitten unpretty places, often built for reasons that no longer exist, no longer the world's largest producer of iron, coal, copper or slate, these are places that have lost their historic and heroic status, sometimes even their raison d'etre. Regeneration is taking place, but it is taking its time. By contrast the tourist landscape is one of pleasure seeking and escape - this is the Wales that visitors are sold and want to see. But in a small land this selling of culture for the tourist pound has complex consequences that build on the complexities of a relationship that has shaped so much of the landscape.

Where the windswept Patagonian steppe meets the Andes, and the massive unclimbed south wall of Cerro San Lorenzo looks down on the Lacteo Valley, a visitor understands: Perito Moreno National Park is a stronghold of wild nature. In a region so alluring that is has become synonymous with beauty at the end of the Earth, Perito Moreno National Park is an icon of Patagonia. This relatively little visited Park is a magnet for intrepid travellers and ambitious alpinists. In a book as grand as the natural area it celebrates, Perito Moreno National Park presents a stunning collection of images of the park by renowned landscape photographer Antonio Vizcaino. With supporting essays from experts on the park's natural and cultural history, this elegant volume offers an armchair tour of one of the world's most scenic and unsullied landscapes. Legendary businessman and philanthropist Douglas Tompkins (founder of The North Face) contributes the book's foreword. In a dramatic gesture that expanded the park in 2013, Tompkins donated a key private inholding in Perito Moreno to the Argentine national parks administration.For all of those who dream of Patagonia, Perito Moreno National Park is a ticket into the heart of the wild. All proceeds from this book go towards conservation efforts at Perito Moreno National Park.

John Comino-James has photographed the streets, shops and shopkeepers in the centre of Thame, an historic market town some 45 miles from London. Portraits, texts and candid photographs are contained in a sequence representing a meandering walk through the town, during which we encounter not only the shops and shopkeepers but also the last cattle market operating in the area, travelling showmen at one of the two annual fairs, and the weekly street market. The accompanying interviews reveal pride in the continuation of family businesses, as well as small enterprises both challenged by and benefiting from the increasing impact of the internet. While the presence of supermarkets and services such as banks, travel agents and estate agents is acknowledged, in choosing subjects for portraits Comino-James was drawn to those shopkeepers whose aim might be summed up in the words of one of them: to keep the character of Thame as a Market Town and not a Supermarket town.

Lose yourself in this classic travelogue evoking the Greek island of Rhodes after World War II by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu. 'A magician ... Durrell enchants.' The Times 'A lovely book ... Makes people feel happy ... [So] pleasurable.' Observer 'A poet's intoxication with landscape, a humanist's appetite for history, and an eye for character worthy of a novelist . He excites a longing to leave for Rhodes at once.' Sunday Times World War II is finally over, and after four torturous years serving the Crown in Egypt, Lawerence Durrell seeks peace in the landscapes he has loved ever since his youth in Corfu: Mediterranean islands. He is posted to the Greek island of Rhodes, and from his first dip in the dazzling blue Aegean - which jolts his soul awake for the first time in years - he immerses himself in the rhythms and moods of local life, befriending eccentric villagers and quaffing ouzo as through the war was a distant dream. With his dazzling poet's eye and passion for excavating ancient history, Durrell recaptures the mythic Rhodes of legend, of knights and crusades, that lies beneath its war-ravaged surface. It is a place that you will never forget. 'Our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean.' Richard Holmes 'Masterly ... Casts a spell.' Jan Morris 'Incandescent.' Andre Aciman 'Invades the reader's every sense ... Remarkable.' Victoria Hislop 'Like long letters from a civilized and very funny friend - the prose as luminous as the Mediterranean air he loves.' Time

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

Winner, The New York Public Library, Best of Reference Award, 2002

"Here is a fascinating chronological history of New York City from 1524-2001, looking at the people, building, instiutions, political events, music and businesses that helped shape the city."
--"Booklist"

"The entries are well written and cover a broad range of topics, including political, social, and cultural, and the reader often cannot help but utter, 'I didn't know that.'"
--"ARBA online"

"[Kroessler] does a fine job of chronicling the city's past, incorporating both little-known, flash-in-the-pan nuggest as well as far-reaching, recurring themes."
--"Queens Chronicle"

If any city deserves a complete chronology, it is surely New York. New York, Year by Year is a cornucopia of the familiar and the forgotten, the historic and the ephemeral, the heroic and the banal. In this handy reference work, Jeffrey A. Kroessler takes us from Verrazano's arrival in 1524 into the new millennium, highlighting the strikes and strikeouts, tunnels and towers, personalities and parades which not only made history in New York, but also proved to be defining moments for the nation.

New York, Year by Year features events such as Mark Twain's first lecture at Cooper Union, and the letter he later wrote when the Brooklyn Public Library tried to restrict access to "Huckleberry Finn," In contrast, we are reminded of the publication in the 1950s of "Eloise, A Book for Precocious Grown-Ups," Kay Thompson's fanciful tale of a little girl's adventures in the Plaza Hotel, the appearance of the Beat Generation, and the flight (literally) of the Dodgers and Giants toCalifornia. New York, Year by Year chronicles the opening of Shea Stadium in April 1964 and the performance by the Beatles there that August. The Sixties also saw the opening of "The Fantastiks," which is still running on Sullivan Street, and the closing of Steeplechase, the last of the great amusement parks at Coney Island. And this chronology makes sure we don't forget when Kitty Genovese was murdered in Kew Gardens and her cries for help were left unanswered because her neighbors "didn't want to get involved." Kroessler leads us on a tour of the city from its first settlers until the November 2001 election of a new mayor for the new millennium.

From the colonial era and the Revolution through the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties, Kroessler has compiled a record of cultural, economic, political, and social events. Some are of transient importance, others of lasting significance, but all illuminate the city's fascinating history.

London: Secrets & Celebrations takes you on a virtual tour of this wonderful city, at a time when London will be in the spotlight and visited by even more people than the millions who already come every year to discover the magnificent architectural heritage, cultural riches, vibrant social scene and must-see sights. Divided into sections covering historical London, London's parks and gardens, London landmarks, London transport and much more, you can explore this exciting city from the comfort of your armchair, or flick through to reminisce about your recent visit. From Trafalgar Square, via the daffodils and crocuses of St James's Park, to the less well known treasure of Charles Dickens' house, the stunning photography and informative text make this the ideal gift or souvenir for Londonophiles.

In 1964, while on assignment for Newsweek magazine, photojournalist Elliott Erwitt spent a week in Cuba as a guest of Fidel Castro. There, he captured now-iconic photographs of the beloved Cuban president along with the revolutionary leader Che Guevara. Over 50 years later, coinciding with restored diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, Erwitt returned to document both its urban and rural landscapes, and -most prominently- the people of this fascinating nation. Presented in a book for the very first time, Erwitt's captivating black-and-white photographs offer an intimate look into this intriguing Caribbean island. From candid glimpses of Fidel Castro to Havana's breathtaking architectural details and scenes of rural life, Cuba reflects an in-depth visual exploration that unveils the heart and soul of the country. Complete with anecdotal recollections penned by Erwitt himself (for example, the time when Che Guevara offered him a box of cigars) and a compelling foreword written by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this stunning tome isn't a mere chronicling of Cuba's people and places - it's a historical record of a nation in flux as it opens up to the rest of the world. Text in English, German, and French.