Roland Miller

Profiles of 50 historically significant American flags that chronicle the history of the country, timed to celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary Few symbols hold the gravity and inspiration of the American flag. It has encouraged heroics in trying times, soothed the nation after tremendous trauma, brightened the eyes of citizens, and offers comfort and hope. And of course it's our national symbol of democracy and freedom. Now, to be published on time for America's Semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026, Old Glory is a compelling look at the evolution of the flag through 50 significant versions of the country's ensign, commemorating the past two and a half centuries-from 1765 to 2026-of American history. Included are stories and images of flags that predate America's independence, such as Washington's Headquarters flag, which gave us the basic elements of the current design. And the Betsy Ross Flag, the country's first, and one of the most regarded and recognized flags; also here is The Lincoln flag that nobly cradled President Lincoln's head in his final hours. And the Apollo 11 flag that was planted in the surface of the moon. The flag appears in countless iconic pop culture moments as well, some of which are featured in the book, such as on Wonder Woman's original costume, and the flag's motif in the film Easy Rider. Old Glory is a must-have gift for American history enthusiasts and photography book collectors.

“Any backyard astronomer or space enthusiast would be delighted to have this visual journey on their shelf.” —The Strategist, The Year’s Most Giftable Coffee-Table BooksA Barnes & Noble Best Gift Book of 2022 A Publishers Weekly Holiday Gift Guide 2022 selection6 orbiters, 140 missions, 355 astronauts, 500,000,000 miles—all in one rich and beautiful photographic journeyThe Space Shuttle tells the story of NASA’s amazing Space Shuttle program and its 140 space flights (135 missions, plus five Approach and Landing Tests) in a uniquely designed and covetable way. Long before the James Webb Telescope rekindled our fascination with astronomy and our place in the cosmos, the Space Shuttle began to capture the world’s attention with its first mission (a test launch) on April 12, 1981 and continued to do so until its final mission on July 8, 2011. The program’s six orbiter vehicles are Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Each mission has its own fascinating story, and The Space Shuttle retells these stories, in chronological order, through incredible photos taken by NASA photojournalists, fine art photographers, and the astronauts themselves. Each image is accompanied by a short text that includes quick facts such as crew members, launch date, and landing date, as well as a short overview of highlights and purpose. For example, STS-78’s mission was to study circadian rhythms in space; STS-41G’s mission was to take photographs in-flight, seen in the IMAX movie The Dream Is Alive; and famously, the first untethered space walk, taken by astronaut Bruce McCandless on STS-41B using a self-propelled backpack unit (called a Man Maneuvering Unit [MMU]), allowed astronauts to capture satellites for retrieval and repair and for the planned construction of what became the International Space Station (ISS). Prior to this mission, astronauts were attached to the shuttle with safety lines. The photo of McCandless floating above Earth’s surface is one of the most celebrated and famous space photographs ever. These are just a few of the 140 stories Miller tells in this beautiful volume.

Orbital Planes: A Personal Vision of the Space Shuttle is Roland Miller’s intimate photographic view of the Space Shuttle Program. A unique collection of imagery, the book explores the Space Shuttle orbiters—both inside and out—along with related facilities including rocket engine test sites, Solid Rocket Booster and External Tank manufacturing facilities, orbiter manufacturing and maintenance facilities, launch sites, and more. Miller photographed the Space Shuttle starting in 1988. He began his focused work for Orbital Planes in 2008 and continued for the duration of the Space Shuttle Program through the decommissioning of the orbiters. Orbital Planes is part artistic invention, part space archaeology, and part historic documentation. Through a combination of documentary and abstract photographs made around the United States, Orbital Planes tells an expansive story of the Space Shuttle Program in a visually arresting style. Detailed imagery describes the distinctive design and engineering of these spacecraft and the facilities where they were maintained and launched. The drama and danger of spaceflight are seen in the wear and tear visible on the Space Shuttle orbiters. The book also chronicles the story of Miller’s interactions with Space Shuttle workers and the impacts of the Challenger and Columbia accidents.

On November 2nd, 2020 NASA will celebrate the 20th anniversary of continuous human habitation of space on the International Space Station—a milestone in extraterrestrial adventure. The ISS is a base for learning how to live and work in microgravity and to prepare for exploring other planets, but it is also a home to the astronauts. The authors, Roland Miller and Paolo Nespoli, have collaborated on a unique portrait of the ISS. Images of training and control facilities on Earth are coupled with photographs of the ISS interior explored for the first time as a complex artefact of human history. The focus of this work is on the interior elements of the station and every environment reveals an incredible complexity of signs, technology, and passageways. Internationally acclaimed scholars of Space Archaeology, Alice Gorman and Justin P. Walsh, write in their essays that the ISS speaks not only of who we are and will be, but also of who we were. In 2024 the ISS will be abandoned and in 2028 it will be destroyed.

Stenciled on many of the deactivated facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the evocative phrase “abandoned in place” indicates the structures that have been deserted. Some structures, too solid for any known method of demolition, stand empty and unused in the wake of the early period of US space exploration. Now Roland Miller’s color photographs document the NASA, Air Force, and Army facilities across the nation that once played a crucial role in the space race.Rapidly succumbing to the elements and demolition, most of the blockhouses, launch towers, tunnels, test stands, and control rooms featured in Abandoned in Place are located at secure military or NASA facilities with little or no public access. Some have been repurposed, but over half of the facilities photographed no longer exist. The haunting images collected here impart artistic insight while preserving an important period in history.