Kirjahaku

Henry James said, 'Paris is the greatest temple ever built to material joys and the lust of the eyes'. Renowned as the City of Light, Paris is celebrated for its beautiful city plan, its architecture, museums, bridges, cathedrals, parks, shopping, flea markets, sidewalk cafés, wide and luxurious boulevards, elegant cuisine, and numerous monuments. Once confined to an island in the middle of the river Seine, the Ile de la Cité, Paris, founded more than 2,000 years ago, quickly spread to both banks of the river – the 'rive droit' (right bank) and the 'rive gauche' (left bank). The right bank is known for being the commercial heart of the city while the left bank is home to the University of Paris and all that is intellectual and artsy. Paris has also been fêted for its aura of romance and mystery and has been the setting for many novels (The Americans, The Three Musketeers and the Maigret stories) and movies (Last Tango in Paris, Ratatouille). This gorgeous new book in the successful Secrets series is divided into several geographical sections, from the Louvre and Champs Élysées, via Les Halles, Le Marais and Bastille, to Montmartre and beyond. It’s a brilliant read for the armchair traveller and everyone interested in the history and the mysteries of the great cities of the world.

While we know that Bletchley was the centre of Britainâ??s World War II code-breaking, how did its efforts actually change the course of the war? Enigma tells the story of Bletchleyâ??s role in assisting the Allied commanders to victory on the battlefield.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, all books had to be written by hand. Manuscripts are the beautiful manifestation of this craft, and the most precious and expensive of such manuscripts were 'illuminated' through the use of brightly coloured pigments and gold embellishments. Beginning with a fresh and thoughtful introduction to illuminated manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts Masterpieces of Art goes on to showcase key works in this stunning artistic genre.

Gustav Klimt is renowned as a quintessential artist of the art nouveau movement, but he was one of a number of Viennese artists who strove to break free of the constraints of the late 19th Century academic art establishment. The Secessionists were united, not in the style of their work, but their desire for freedom, so although there are echoes of similarity in the work of Klimt, Schiele, Kolomon Moser and the many other fine artists, their distinction lies in their magnificent difference. This new illustrated book focuses on the rich diversity of the movement and offers a sumptuous gift of colour and glamour for every art lover.

Mount Fuji has been a source of inspiration and awe since ancient times, and artists have been reproducing its likeness since at least the 14th century, as it became a key motif in all aspects of Japanese culture. The 19th century Ukiyo-e woodblock prints of important artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige continued this reverence, creating series of beautiful images of landscape and society, with the mountain ever-present. With the slight relaxing of Japan's isolationist policies, artists discovered Western art and exploited its styles and perspectives, and, in turn, Western artists from Monet to van Gogh were influenced by the bold and distinctive print style, which filtered into their work. This gorgeous new book discusses the fascinating history of Fuji as featured in these prints, and reproduces numerous examples of the stunning and timeless artworks, some in their complete series.

A broken piano, a dilapidated staircase, a chair half standing on two bent legs surrounded by layers of history peeling from the wallpaper of an abandoned house. The chilling air of an abandoned church, or a desolated factory, with the faint signs of the human sounds now trapped in the detritus of lost interiors. In Michigan, in Italy, in Russia, Japan, in China, the lost dreams of a teaming human horde are captured in this evocative exploration of abandoned buildings, the achievements of humankind struck down by calamity or neglect, then over-run by the ancient forces of time and nature, as the planet earth moves slowly to regain its supremacy against the noisy, mechanical clatter of the human species. The incredible new book explores the half-life of abandoned buildings and the sad beauty of desolation.

Paul Nash, the British landscape and Surrealist painter, lived through both the First and Second World Wars. His depictions of these human catastrophes, with their damaged landscapes and broken machinery are much remembered today. His painting life moved from representational landscapes, through to the Surrealist and symbolist styles of his later years where he experimented with abstraction and the everyday. He was regarded as a fine book illustrator and often created work for other graphic and theatrical forms. This new book offers 100 images, with an introduction to his art and contribution made by Nash to the cultural sophistication of the modern world.

This beautiful book, packed with stunning photographs, will take you on a pictorial journey through Alaska’s most magnificent landscapes. From the arctic north, with its glittering sea ice, frozen tundra and ethereal aurora borealis, to the lush rainforests and breathtaking fjordlands of the south, this is a country as diverse as it is immense. Take in the wild majesty of Denali National Park and its towering peaks, marvel at the blue-white glaciers of Glacier Bay and the untamed rivers of Alaska’s pristine Interior. Encounter the wind-battered coastlines of the Aleutian Islands, and the sheltered bays of the Kodiak Archipelago; embrace frontier spirit along its highways, railways and winding hiking trails. Uncover Alaska’s intriguing history through its onion-domed churches, Native villages, remote settlements and abandoned boomtowns. And if that was not enough, experience close encounters with some impressive Alaskan residents, including humpback whales, bears, caribou, moose, puffins, seals and more. Exploring sights both familiar and unexpected, natural and man-made, new and old, Best-kept Secrets of Alaska will introduce you to one of the most awe-inspiring places on earth.

Rich and delicate, ethereal and muscular, the art of William Blake is as fascinating as the philosophies threading through his poetry and prophetic works. Presented here in this magnificent new collection, his vivid paintings and gently weaving illustrations are imprinted in the consciousness of Romantic art, but their impact on Gothic literature remains as strong and quixotic as the artist himself.

Paul Nash, the British landscape and Surrealist painter, lived through both the First and Second World Wars. His depictions of these human catastrophes, with their damaged landscapes and broken machinery are much remembered today. His painting life moved from representational landscapes, through to the Surrealist and symbolist styles of his later years where he experimented with abstraction and the everyday. He was regarded as a fine book illustrator and often created work for other graphic and theatrical forms. This new book offers 100 images, with an introduction to his art and contribution made by Nash to the cultural sophistication of the modern world.

Symbols are all around us – some mysterious, some timeless, some arcane and some prosaic. But what are their origins? What does the infinity symbol really signify? Do you understand yin and yang? And why is the swastika really a good luck sign? This enticing gift book explores the world of classic symbols and signs, revealing the deep meaning and often quirky history behind each one. From the ouroboros and the ankh to the menorah, caduceus and astrological symbols, the book ranges widely across the world’s most recognised symbols. With one symbol per page, accompanied by a detailed explanation and history, and printed on high quality paper with a special binding, Classic Symbols is a unique and attractive book which will appeal to a broad range of readers, both as a gift and as a source for tattoo designs and other creative projects.

Temples have been places of worship, a focus for spirituality and a place for communities to gather since the earliest days of human civilisation. The first temples date back to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, deriving from the cult of deities and residing places for gods and immortals. Today, temple buildings remain lively focal points for the Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh religions. Organised by continent, Amazing Temples of the World offers the reader an intimate portrait of some spectacular and unusual places of worship dating from the fourth millennium BCE to the present. Ornate or spartan, immense or intimate, from the Middle East to California, this book features such impressive places of worship as the Mahabodi Temple, India, built in the location where Buddha is thought to have achieved enlightenment; the fifth century BCE Temple of Confucius in Qufu, China, the largest Confucian temple in the world; Abu Simbel, in southern Egypt, the great carved monument to the Pharaoh Ramses II; the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, the spiritual home of the world’s 25 million Sikhs; and the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, the biggest Hindu temple outside India. Illustrated with more than 180 photographs, Amazing Temples of the World includes more than 150 places of worship, from Ancient Greece and Rome, through traditional synagogues to modern Buddhist, Taoist and Sikh temples.

The mythology and folklore of England is as old as the land itself, rich in symbolism and full of tales of quests and heroic daring-do, ghosts and witches, romantic heroines and noble outlaws. Who hasn’t heard of the master sorcerer Merlin, Robin Hood and his merry men, or the legendary monster Grendel? Beginning with the great Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, English Myths explores the early legends of post-Roman England, many of which blend history and myth. The book goes on to examine the rich seam of Arthurian and romantic legends first told in the Medieval era, before looking at English folk heroes and the beasts, witches and ghosts that have haunted the land. Discover the brothers Hengist and Horsa, legendary leaders of the first Angles, Saxons and Jutes to settle in England; learn the tragic story of Cornish hero Tristan and his love for Irish princess Iseult; tremble at the Black Dog ghost, a nocturnal hellhound found stalking the country from Suffolk in the east to Devon in the west; and enjoy the tale of George and the dragon, who saved the nation from a rampaging serpent and became the patron saint of the country. Illustrated with 150 photographs and artworks, English Myths is an accessible, entertaining and highly informative exploration of the fascinating mythology underlying one of the world’s oldest and most influential cultures.

On 26 April 1986, the unthinkable happened near the Ukrainian town of Pripyat: two massive steam explosions ruptured No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, immediately killing 30 people and setting off the worst nuclear accident in history. The explosions were followed by an open-air reactor core fire that released huge amounts of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere for the next nine days, spreading across the Soviet Union, parts of Europe, and especially neighbouring Belarus, where around 70% of the waste landed. The following clean-up operation involved more than half a million personnel at a cost of $68 billion, and a further 4,000 people were estimated to have died from disaster-related illnesses in the following 20 years. Some 350,000 people were evacuated as a result of the accident (including 95 villages in Belarus), and much of the area returned to the wild, with the nearby city of Pripyat now a ghost town. Chernobyl provides a photographic exploration of the catastrophe and its aftermath in 180 authentic photos. See the twisted wreckage of No. 4 Reactor, the cause of the nuclear disaster; marvel at historic photos of the clean-up operation, with helicopters spraying decontamination liquid and liquidators manually clearing radioactive debris; see the huge cooling pond used to cool the reactors, and which today is home to abundant wildlife, despite the radiation; explore the ghost town of Pripyat, with its decaying apartment blocks, empty basketball courts, abandoned amusement park, wrecked schools, and deserted streets.

Ranging from medieval Kievan Rus' to Vladimir Putin, The History of Russia explores the murder, brutality, genocide, insanity and skulduggery in the efforts to seize, and then maintain, power in the Slav heartland. Highly illustrated throughout, the book is a fascinating story from the Mongol invasions to the present day.

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia” – Winston Churchill, 5 March 1946 Following the Allies’ victory in World War II, the European continent was soon divided into two broad zones of influence, with Eastern Europe coming under communist Soviet control, and the west under the oversight of the liberal democracies led by the United States. What developed over the next 40 years was a military and ideological stand-off that defined Europe and much of the world until 1989. In countries such as Germany, the Cold War divided families between the two zones of control. The two opponents competed for global dominance, building up ever greater arsenals of nuclear weapons, funding and fighting costly proxy wars in Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America, deploying espionage and trade embargoes, and even seeking technological advantage in space exploration, which became known as the “Space Race”. The Cold War provides a pictorial examination of this crucial era in 20th century history, offering the reader an instant understanding of the key events and figures in this 40-year period through 150 dramatic photographs.

From around 750BC to 12BC, the Celts were the most powerful people in central and northern Europe. With the expansion of the Roman Empire and the later Christianization of these lands, they were pushed to the fringes of north-western Spain, France and the British Isles. But there the mythology of these peoples held strong. The tales from Celtic myth were noted down and also absorbed into other cultures. From Roman and Christian scribes we know of characters like Morrigan the shape-shifting queen, who could change herself from a crow to a wolf, Cu Chulainn, who, mortally wounded in battle, tied himself with his own intestines to a rock so that he’d die standing up, and the Cauldron of Bran, which could restore life. Other than being fascinating in their own right, Celtic legends are of interest for the influence they had over subsequent mythologies. The story of the Holy Grail first appears in medieval romances but its antecedents can be found in the Celtic tale, the Mabinogion. Illustrated with more than 180 artworks and photographs and maps, Celtic Myths is an expertly written account of the mythological tales that both fascinate us and influence other writings.

“The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy. We will rally the world. We will be patient. We’ll be focused, and we will be steadfast in our determination.” – President George W. Bush, September 12, 2001 On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners, crashing them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and near the White House, killing nearly 3,000 people. Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network quickly claimed responsibility for the outrage. The aftermath still reverberates around the world today, with President Bush declaring a “War on Terror” against al-Qaeda and its allies. By October, the US military was carrying out air strikes against al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, and US ground forces were deployed against bin Laden’s protectors, the incumbent Taliban regime. By June 2002 the Taliban had been ousted and a US-friendly government established in the capital, Kabul. But the campaign didn’t end there, as American and allied NATO forces became bogged down for the next two decades. Afghanistan provides a photographic exploration of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, from the first deployment of US special forces in October 2001 to the final withdrawal of US forces in August 2021. In between, the book offers a compact overview of the operations fought by the US and NATO forces against the Taliban/al- Qaeda insurgency, including the bombing of the Tora Bora cave complex, Operation Anaconda, President Obama’s deployment surge, the Navy SEAL’s assassination of Osama bin Laden in neighbouring Pakistan, the development of a local Afghan army, police force and government, the eventual withdrawal of US forces and the collapse of the Afghan administration amidst renewed Taliban pressure. Afghanistan offers a concise pictorial history of the war that came to define US policy in Central Asia and the Middle East in the 21st century.

Beginning in the sixth millennium BCE, in the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and along the Nile River, human civilization expanded to develop writing systems, farming methods, social organization and modes of government. Today, humans inhabit every part of the planet, connected by digital technology and modern infrastructure. Arranged chronologically, History of the World offers a broad overview of the most important events in human history, including the building of great funerary tombs in Ancient Egypt, the Trojan War, the development of democratic forms of government in Ancient Athens under Pericles, the birth of Christ, the expansion of Islam from Arabia, the Viking raids across northwest Europe, the capture of Jerusalem during the Crusades, Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Copernicus proposing a new model of the Universe, the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns in Japan, the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution, Napoleon’s domination of Europe following the French victory at Austerlitz, Stephenson’s development of the steam locomotive, the break up of great empires following the end of World War I, the use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the advent of the modern computer, beginning with Alan Turing’s code-breaking Bombe machine at Bletchley Park during World War II. History of the World provides a sumptuous, pictorial guide to the most significant events in human history, from the Bronze Age to the 21st Century.

Built to last, built to impress, built with style and grandeur – it is all the more remarkable when the most ostentatious of buildings fall into disrepair and become ruins. From imperial residences and aristocratic estates to hotels and urban mansions, Abandoned Palaces tells the stories behind dilapidated structures from all around the world. From ancient Roman villas to the French colonial hill station in Cambodia that was one of the final refuges of the Khmer Rouge, the book charts the fascinating decline of what were once the homes and holiday resorts of the most wealthy. Ranging from crumbling hotels in the Catskill Mountains or in Mozambique to grand mansions in Taiwan, and from an unfinished Elizabethan summerhouse to a modern megalomaniac’s estate too expensive ever to be completed, the reasons for the abandonment of these buildings include politics, bankruptcy, personal tragedies, natural and man-made disasters, as well as changing tastes and fashions. With 150 outstanding colour photographs exploring more than 100 hauntingly beautiful locations, Abandoned Palaces is a brilliant and moving pictorial examination of worlds we have left behind.