After goldsmiths work, tapestries and embroideries were among the costliest art forms of the Middle Ages, due to their precious materials and the countless hours required to produce them. Whether hung on the wall or worn about the person, textiles provided a potent display of their owners' wealth and status. Their vivid decoration also provided the perfect backdrop for courtly pageants, royal ceremonies, and liturgical festivals. Even the quickest glance at late medieval paintings shows just how forcefully textiles shaped the visual texture of the occasions they depict. Though always the works of specialist craftsmen, in the later Middle Ages textiles were often made following designs supplied by the leading painters and designers of their age. Yet only a tiny fraction of what was made has survived. The fragility of the fabrics, light damage and insects, together with alterations of use, have made this material extremely rare. This catalogue includes thirty-six late medieval and Renaissance textiles, many published for the first time, that together span a period of almost two hundred years. They are organised by country, starting with otherwise unrecorded examples of 'opus anglicanum' made in English workshops between around 1400 and the eve of the Reformation. They are followed by textiles from France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain. Different materials and classes of textile are grouped together within each of these regional divisions. For instance, liturgical vestments and altar hangings sit side by side with sumptuous velvets and delicately embroidered tablecloths. Together, they encapsulate the incredible breadth of Europe's flourishing textile industries during this period. Rosamund Garrett and Matthew Reeves have carefully recorded the physical structure, processes of manufacture, and condition of these remarkable and sometimes complex works, and have situated them within the wider contexts of their production and the cultural climate in which they were made.

Pains on Trains is the perfect way to take the tedium out of commuting, guaranteed to become as indispensable to the seasoned traveller as the blow--up pillow and water sterilising tablets. In Pains on Trains, Andrew Holmes and Matthew Reeves set their sights on the scourge of the modern office worker -- other office workers who clog up trains, buses, boats and planes with their annoying habits and depressing clothes. Pains on Trains is dedicated to the rush--hour veteran and consists of a a pain--spottinga guide to the very worst people you meet on your daily commute. Each painful character is illustrated in their usual context and supported by a short narrative.

This fascinating and richly illustrated book accompanies The Medieval Body, the third in a series of vanguard exhibitions that places medieval masterpieces within a contemporary context. The title of the exhibition refers to both a literal thread of figuration that runs throughout the works in the presentation, as well as the complex and often shifting symbolism of the human body in the medieval period. For thinkers and artists of that time, the human body served as a rich source of religious and philosophical significance, one that was in a constant state of flux between idealism and disfigurement. While the early Middle Ages reserved representations of suffering bodies to the margins of their world, the later Middle Ages displayed wounded bodies in the most central spaces of public life. The crucified body of Christ and the wounded bodies of saints assumed important positions as they were displayed on altars, in processions, and on the exteriors of churches. The Medieval Body tells a unique story about the human form as both a physical entity and a recognizable metaphor. Presenting works spanning the course of a thousand years, this exhibition offers insight into the body as an essential imagemaking tool with far-reaching implications for the development of art in the European Middle Ages.

Off The Beaten Path is the travelogue of a student who decides to maximize his opportunity of a semester abroad. During the week Nick attends class at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, while on the weekends and breaks explores the best of what over twelve countries in Europe and North Africa have to offer. Nick's story also expands to Christmas time adventures in Latin America. The book also contains commentary form both Nick and his friends who joined him along the way about their experiences and how the places they have seen compare to the rest of their travels. For anyone who has spent time studying and traveling overseas, or wants to know what its like, Off the Beaten Path is the perfect read.