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74410 ROME: The Autobiography edited by Jon E. Lewis


Subtitled ‘The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire by Those Who Saw It’ here is a welcome reprint of a book first published in 2003 under the title ‘The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome’. Divided into four parts this is a superbly comprehensive guide with all the key events of Roman history alongside social and cultural life in all its luxury and depravity. From the rise of the Republic to the fall of the Emperors, here is 1,000 years of history told by the people who were there. It is an autobiography of the Roman Empire, including the writings of Caesars, slaves, generals and poets on everything from major battles, conspiracies and politics to the minutiae of everyday life. Learn about Constantius II’s visit to Rome in AD357, the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem AD70 according to Josephus, Nero murders Brittanicus, Rome AD55 as recounted by Tacitus. 453pp, paperback. £8.99 NOW £4.50


74443 UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY: Exploring the


World Beneath the Sea by Jean-Yves Blot translated by Alexandra Campbell With stunning illustrations and thrilling text, this pocket sized volume highlights not only the danger and excitement but also the painstaking research involved in exploring our unique under-water


heritage. This informative book includes many enthralling articles by people who have made exciting finds under the sea, like the oldest known shipwreck that yielded a Bronze Age Cargo, the first Greco-Italic amphorae bearing the name of the potter, the Byzantine wreck at Yassi Ada and incredible finds from the Titanic. 175 paperback pages, colour. £7.95 NOW £4


25247 HISTORIES


by Herodotus, introduced by Tom Griffiths Herodotus (c480 - c425 B.C.) is the Father of History and his Histories are the first piece of western historical writing. They are also the most entertaining. Why did Pheidippides run the 26 mile and 385 yards from Marathon to Athens? And what did he do when he got there? Was the Battle of Salamis fought between sausage sellers? Which is the oldest language in the world? And what is the best way to kill a crocodile? Answers as well as many fascinating insights into the Ancient World. 734pp in paperback. ONLY £4


72407 CHRONICLE OF THE WORLD 1493


by Hartmann Schedel,


edited by Stephan Füssel 500 years before Google, Hartmann Schedel’s Weltchronik, or Chronicle of the World (better known today as the Nuremberg Chronicle, after the German city in which it was created), was a groundbreaking


encyclopedic work and at the time the most lavishly illustrated book ever printed in Europe. Albrecht Dürer was possibly a contributor to the physician and humanist Schedel’s massive project. Both a historical reference work and a contemporary inventory of urban culture at the end of the 15th century, it was divided into six ages from the Creation to the ‘present’. It was particularly notable for its vast quantity of woodcut illustrations (more than 1,800) depicting events from the Bible, human monstrosities, portraits of kings, queens, saints and martyrs, and allegorical pictures of miracles, natural catastrophes, wars, as well as views of the founding of a great number of “modern” cities many of which had never been documented before. Today, copies of the Chronicle sell for up to 800,000 dollars. Taschen publishers procured a rare hand-coloured copy, true to the original in every respect, and have here created a complete facsimile of the finest quality. With summaries of the book’s main stories. Hardcover with colour illustrated 88 page booklet in slipcase, 8" x 11½”, 684 pages. Cloth bound, gold-tooled, ‘antiqued’ parchment- look paper and exquisite typography and design. Complete and annotated. ONLY £35


73937 CASTLES: A History of Fortified Structures Ancient, Medieval and Modern


by Charles Stephenson The very mention of the word “castle” conjures up the image of the classic medieval edifice, resplendent in its towers, turrets,


battlements, moat, portcullis and drawbridge and indeed there are many such magnificent structures examined here - but the common starting point of fortification the world over would appear to be local variations on the mound, ditch, rammed earth, mud, brick and stone constructions, which in Britain are typically Iron Age hill forts. Architects, stonemasons and engineers soon had their work cut out as first catapults and ballistae then siege engines, archers, guns and artillery rapidly ramped up the destructive capabilities of attackers, up until the point in the 19th century when modern artillery effectively forced armies underground. This superbly presented volume uses stylish two- tone engravings to dissect a wealth of examples from the earliest civilisations to the modern day and from both Western and Eastern cultures. Illus with illuminated manuscripts. 288pp softback, 8"×10", first US edition.


$29.99 NOW £7 TRAVEL AND PLACES


The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. - Augustine of Hippo


74932 ANCIENT AND


MODERN EGYPT by Isabella Brega


From the beginnings of pharaonic civilisation along the banks of the Nile, to the modern state and the pivotal Middle Eastern nation it has become today, here is the whole compelling story of Egypt in a nutshell. It has always been a


great crossroads between Asia and Africa, a land of vast deserts, temples and pyramids contrasted with the great metropolis of Cairo. Its history is a long-running tale of battles: the Nile against the desert, the pyramids against the sand, the people against oblivion. This eternal struggle between life and death, all or nothing, in a country that has undergone constant change since time immemorial, has been exacerbated by the seasonal floods of its great river. Steeped in poverty yet basking in the glory reflected from the riches blazing with gold, jewels and enamel and fragrant with amber and precious unguents, that were sealed away in the tombs of the pharaohs, Egypt has always been surrounded by an irresistible aura of mystique. Today, while continuing to be proud of its heritage, it still fights to reconcile its desire to remain a part of the Islamic world with wanting to retain its own independence. 128 paperback pages richly illustrated with over 280 pictures in vivid colour, with archive b/w photos and map. $19.95 NOW £6


74884 ATLAS OF WALES edited by Gill Miller Actually designed for school children, we at Bibliophile bagged this bargain because it is so unusual and so interesting and so useful. It has detailed coverage of all the regions paying particular attention to the city of Cardiff, ports and airports, protected environments, historical landscapes, the Brecon


Beacons National Park, roads and transport, health and education, population, water quality, the coasts, flooding, rivers and reservoirs, landscapes, soils, together with maps and graphs of Wales. Themed pages reflect the diversity and change in Wales in this Oxford University Press essential up-to-date reference. 88 very large pages in softback. £9.99 NOW £5


74640 TALES OF TWO CITIES: Paris, London and the


Birth of the Modern City by Jonathan Conlin Paris and London are polar opposites, viewing each other with suspicion, disdain and even loathing, which is perhaps why this is the first book to explore the historic links between the two global capitals and the way their fates have been inexorably interlinked. The books


starts with dwelling places, contrasting London’s terraced houses with Paris’s soaring apartment blocks, from slum dwellings to the supreme elegance of housing by Nash or Haussmann. In London, the 17th century rebuilding that followed the Great Fire was interestingly matched in Paris by a surge in regulations with health and safety in mind, although the British continued to imagine Parisian life in terms of the unspeakably sordid milieu described in the novels of Zola. Our perambulation moves on to that great bone of contention between the two nations: food. Both cities had street vendors specialising in jellied eels and pigs’ trotters, but London’s famed 17th century coffee houses did not serve food and it was only in the next century that chop houses caught on. In Paris, restaurants seem to have proliferated in the Revolution with the collapse of employment in aristocratic kitchens. Entertainment comes next, with the high kicking chahut or cancan, a modest affair with pantaloons in Paris which only became risqué when transported to London. The criminal underworld and finally the great cemeteries of both cities are a fascinating focus of social history. 312pp, notes, bibliography, black and white reproductions. £25 NOW £8


74835 HONG KONG by Jan Morris


A classic, first published in 1988 and here reprinted with Jan Morris’s new introduction in 2000, the distinguished travel writer looks at first the chronology of Hong Kong followed by impacts and images. Jan Morris is well known for her books about the climax and decline of the British Empire, and studies on Wales, Spain, Venice, Oxford and this volume, Hong Kong. She looks


at festivities shared by all races and ranks, how Chinese and Western cultures have overlapped, the pressures of change and opportunism, signs and customs of the Taipans, Britons, dinner with a Mandarin, American attitudes, harbourage and the first purpose of Hong Kong, old industries and the sea, celebrated money makers, imperialism and the New Territories, colonialism almost gone, an enormous civil service, a welfare state, the agreement and settlement. Morris has observed the place for 40 years, is alive to its glaring faults and is in love with its energy and sense of enjoyment shared by all races at all levels. 320pp in paperback with old and new photos and maps. £8.99 NOW £4


74912 AFOOT IN ENGLAND by W. H. Hudson


One of the Stanford’s travel classics of fine historical travel writing, this new paperback edition has a Foreword by Robert MacFarlane. William Henry Hudson was born in Argentina and spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna travelling widely on horseback visiting Brazil, Uruguay and Patagonia. In 1869 at the age of 28 he settled in England and began


a new life as a field naturalist. Despite many years living in poverty in London, his country rambles were an escape from a life that held few other pleasures. He eventually achieved fame with his books about the English countryside which in turn helped foster the back- to-nature movement of the 1920s and 1930s. This book recounts his wanderings from village to village from Surrey to Devon and Cornwall and along the East Anglia Coast. It talks powerfully of the simple pleasures of the English countryside just as it was when it was first published in 1909. 192pp in paperback. £9.99 NOW £4


74913 AN INLAND VOYAGE by Robert Louis Stevenson One of the Stanford’s travel classics of the finest historical travel writing published and brought to us by the leading map and travel book seller. First published in 1878, An Inland Voyage is Stevenson’s earliest book. It describes a voyage undertaken with his Scottish friend Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, mostly along the Oise River from Belgium through France in the autumn of


1876. The men each had a wooden canoe rigged with a sail, propelled with double-bladed paddles, a style that had recently become popular. The book paints a delightful picture of Europe in a more innocent time with quirky innkeepers, travelling entertainers and puppeteers, ramshackle military units parading with drums and swords and gypsy-like families living on canal barges. 118pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £4


74916 FOLLOWING THE


EQUATOR by Mark Twain Mark Twain enjoyed immense popularity during his lifetime. Beginning in Paris he crossed the Atlantic to New York and thence across North America to Vancouver and on to Australia and New Zealand by way of Hawaii and Fiji. He travelled widely in Australasia then, at the end of the year, sailed for Sri Lanka then onto the rest of the Subcontinent, becoming


captivated by its people, sites, customs and geography, before moving on to South Africa, arriving in April 1896 just as relations between the British and Afrikaaners were hitting their lowest ebb, following the botched Jameson Raid four months earlier. Twain wasted no time testing his acerbic wit on both sides and his talks there were a huge success. In all his tour included over 100 lectures and took him all around the world, establishing him as one of the very few worldwide celebrities of that time. Twain kept a very detailed journal during his travels. Veering from childish wonderment and confusion to viperish, scathing wit to whimsy, his words never fail to entrance and entertain, whether he is holding forth on an Australian parrot that eats only the kidney fat of the sheep it kills with its immense beak, the possibilities of reincarnation and the delights of Indian railways. This is the 1897 publication reissued in 2010 paperback with the original b/w woodcuts, cartoon, photos and other illus. 539pp. £14.99 NOW £6


73969 LIGHTS OF MANKIND: The Earth at


Night As Seen from Space by L. Douglas Keeney


A trip into space is one of the rarest of human experiences, and this book includes first-person perspectives by astronauts like Don Pettit, Douglas Wheelock and others who took these photographs. The book is the story of how we have populated our planet as told through inspiring, panoramic photographs of Earth at night. These images were made possible by the latest light-sensitive cameras and the newly installed Cupola Observation Module on the International Space Station. They tell a story of agriculture, geography, warring, disease, food supply, water supply, politics and power supply. The River Nile snakes towards the Mediterranean. See Chicago to New York City in an 800 mile view, Moscow in a series of ever-enlarging concentric circles of ring roads, The City of London looking over the English Channel towards France. A magnificent panorama of the European continent shows the great cities of Antwerp, Naples and Barcelona with Lyon to the right and the bright lights of Milan near the top of the photograph. There is a brilliant display of lights from Perth to Adelaide and laced by canals, Osaka is sometimes called the ‘Venice of Japan’. The Mediterranean and North Africa, the Middle East, South America and Mexico, the Far East, Australia, Europe, North America, the Unintentional Artwork of Man, the Seven Wonders of the Night Time World and Space Vehicles are among the chapter headings. A spectacular photography book with a difference printed on glossy black paper so that the images stand out almost in 3D. Useful index. 282 large panoramic pages with images never published previously in one volume. $32.50 NOW £7.50


Travel and Places


7 74449 ROME: A Cultural,


Visual and Personal History by Robert Hughes


The award-winning author and art critic will already be well-known to readers for his controversial book The Shock of the New. Here, his writing loses none of its expected bravura as, by turns blasphemous, outraged and awestruck, he paints a portrait of a city that, for almost


a thousand years, remained the most politically important, richest and largest in the Western world, and deplores the cult of mass tourism that has slowly ruined the dazzling Dolce Vita that he loved so much. This is a deeply personal history of Rome as both city and empire and, crucially, as an origin of Western art and civilisation. Readers are taken back more than 2,000 years to the city’s foundation, one mired in mythologies and superstitions that, for centuries, would inform her development. From the beginning, she was a hotbed of power, overweening ambition, desire, political genius and corruption. Hughes details the turbulent years that saw the formation of empire and the establishment of the socio-political system. Along the way we are treated to colourful portraits of all the major figures: Julius Caesar, Nero, Caligula, Cicero and Virgil to name just a few. Then the author’s own antipathy towards religion provides a lively context for the brutality of the early Church and the Crusades. Over the course of the 14th through to the 16th century, architecture, painting and sculpture blossomed, and Hughes sheds new light on old masters in his survey of the period. Having established itself as the artistic and spiritual centre of the world, in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, artists - and eventually wealthy tourists -


converged on the bustling city from all over the globe. The author keeps the momentum going right into the 20th century, when the city witnessed the rise and fall of Italian Fascism under Mussolini. An argument-provoking tour de force from one of the greatest art and cultural critics of our time. 498 rough cut pages with plates in colour, b/w and sepia/w. $35 NOW £11


74440 MADAGASCAR


by Alain Pons and Christine Baillet Exploring the variety of terrain, from tropical forests to deserts, and eroded limestone peaks to coastal mangroves within this kingdom of lemurs and chameleons, is the dream of every nature photographer. This photographic guide outlines the best areas to visit and the notable wildlife you can expect to see in each location. With detailed descriptions of eleven protected areas, photographic advice and practical tourist information. 72 pages 27cm x 21cm with photos in gorgeous colour, maps. £14.95 NOW £3


74441 GALAPAGOS


by Alain Pons and Christine Baillet The Galapagos, a unique archipelago that straddles the equator, is not only home to the endemic giant tortoises, but also marine and land iguanas, the flightless cormorant, the renowned Darwin finches and many other fascinating animals as well as plants. This new photographic guide outlines the best areas to visit, and the notable wildlife you can expect to see in each location, with detailed descriptions of eleven islands and practical tips on the best way to photograph them. Practical tourist information is also provided on such aspects as the best seasons in which to travel, and getting around on foot or by boat, as most of the islands have no roads or airport infrastructure. 72 pages 27cm x 21cm with photographs in glorious colour, maps. £14.95 NOW £3


74442 COLLINS WORLD ATLAS: Discover the World by Collins Maps


Big, clear colourful mapping extending over 64 pages in a very large 9" x 12" softback, here is an easy reference atlas for discovering the whole world. Clear up-to-date mapping, highly detailed references, flags and statistics for every country and over 10,000 places mapped and indexed. A great bargain price for this family reference book.


£8.99 NOW £4


71413 CONTACT! A Book of Glimpses by Jan Morris


In a series of wonderful vignettes we travel with James and then Jan (after his sex change) and enjoy together celebrated figures from Yves Saint Laurent, King Hussein of Jordan, President Truman, Peter O’Toole, to children playing, a homeless man in Manhattan and a lascivious taxi driver in this wonderful world of fleeting encounters and the observer’s responses. 202pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £1.50


71925 THE PURSUIT OF ITALY: A History of a Land Its Regions and their Peoples by David Gilmour


Gilmour demonstrates with verve and abundant enthusiasm that the glory and strength of Italy has always lain in its regions, with their distinctive yet complementary art, civic cultures, identities and cuisine. He traces the whole history of modern-day Italy, a country which ranges geographically from the Alpine north across 720 miles to the heat of Sicily and from the edge of the Balkans across the Mediterranean to Sardinia. Here are the great figures of the past, from Cicero and Virgil to Dante and the Medici, from Verdi to the controversial characters of the 20th century. Here are Tuscans, Venetians, Sicilians, Lombards, Neapolitans, Genoese and Sardinians. Colour illus. and maps, 447pp. £25 NOW £8


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