Batsford’s Christmas Gift Guide
If you’re looking for the perfect cosy Christmas gifts for your loved ones this winter, then scroll through our recommended list for some fireside reading.
Including some of our newest titles to wrap up the year, this heart-warming list of beautiful books will entertain you in your magical winter wonderland. From mighty architectural tomes, to quirky stocking fillers to inspire some Christmas giggles, curl up and enjoy the perfect book this year.
Architecture:
Building Utopia: The Barbican Centre
Nicholas Kenyon (ed) | £40.00
Dive into festive London with our vibrant celebration of The Barbican Centre. This beautifully designed book, published in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the iconic London landmark, contains a wealth of rare illustrative and incredible historic material from the Barbican’s archives, some never before seen in print, illuminating the plans and the programmes of the last forty years.
Opened in 1982, the Barbican has become one of the world’s foremost cultural centres. Drawing together in one architectural vision great spaces for theatre and dance, music of all genres, visual arts, cinema and creative learning, the Barbican is a microcosm of the changing world of culture and the arts in the post-war years. With detailed chapters by architectural experts such as Robert Hewison, Nicholas Kenyon and Elain Harwood, this visually stunning book is an essential companion to a unique, vibrant and ever-changing institution.
Brutalist Britain
Elain Harwood | £25.00
An illustrated guide to Britain’s finest examples of Brutalist architecture written by one of the UK’s foremost architectural historians, Brutalist Britain is the latest book in Elain Harwood’s series on 20th-century architectural styles, published in collaboration with the Twentieth Century Society (which also includes Mid-Century Britain, Art Deco Britain, and Post-modern Buildings in Britain). Brutalism was an architectural response to Britain’s greatest wave of levelling up between north and south, rich and poor, in the 1960s. It was far-sighted and well-meant, if crippled by unrealistic goals, uncertain funding and local corruption. Brutalist Britain assesses the finest architectural survivals from those heady times.
Featured within this tome of concrete is a mix of well-known British landmarks such as London’s National Theatre and Trellick Tower, nestled amongst a range of more obscure examples that we should know better. Brutalist private houses, flats, places of worship, offices and much more will provide a fascinating architectural escape for those looking to broaden their horizons this Christmas within the context of contemporary architecture.
100 20th Century Houses
Twentieth Century Society | £25.00
Looking for architectural inspiration this Christmas? This beautiful book with stunning photography celebrates Britain’s diverse housing styles through the 20th Century and beyond.
100 20th-Century Houses is a fascinating insight into Britain’s built heritage and the exciting and ground-breaking housing styles of the revolutionary twentieth century. Redesigned in this brand-new edition, this book showcases 100 houses that represent a range of architectural styles over the decades, from modernist to mock Tudor, arts and craft to brutalism. Featuring the work of renowned architects such as Walter Gropius, Edwin Lutyens, David Chipperfield and many more, there are homes built as part of garden cities, semi-detached suburban dwellings, housing estates, eco-houses, almshouses, converted factories and affordable post-war homes, showing that the twentieth century was an electrifying era for the built environment.
Accompanied by text from leading architecture critics and design historians, this compelling book gives a glimpse into the wonderful housing Britain has to offer and is a must-have for all fans of architecture.
Art Deco Britain
Elain Harwood | £25.00
Featuring a fabulous array of iconic architecture from the 1920s–30s, explore the glitz and glamour of the Art Deco era with this definitive guide by architectural historian Elain Harwood.
Nearly a century after Art Deco first lit up the luxury store and cinema screen, it remains as glamorous as ever. The style – also known as Jazz Modern or moderne until the 1960s – was transported by ocean liner across the world from its origins in Vienna and Paris, offering a slick of sophistication and succinct design to rich and poor alike. A perfect gift for anyone who loves architecture, this beautifully produced book is a definitive guide to a timeless building style.
Bedtime Reading:
A Nature Poem for Every Winter Evening
Jane McMorland Hunter | £14.99
Curl up by the fireside this winter with the first title in Batsford’s new seasonal poetry series. A wonderful bedside companion for a frosty winter’s evening, immerse yourself in the words of some of the finest poets to ever put pen to paper as they describe this beautiful and festive season. From Shakespeare to Keats, Wilde to Dickinson; this is the ideal book to take you through the darker months of the year as you wait for the snow to thaw.
Bedside Companion for Book Lovers
Jane McMorland Hunter | £20.00
The perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life; Bedside Companion for Book Lovers is an anthology of literary delights for every night of the year. An eclectic treasury of literary curiosities, this book contains a delightful mix of fact and fiction, letters, diaries, essays and dedications, all suffused with the joys of books and reading.
Here you’ll find Charles Dickens on the smell of books, Maya Angelou on the pleasures of reading aloud, Virginia Woolf on finding space for writing, Nick Hornby on reading for pure enjoyment, and much more. Along the way, there’s advice on how to look after your most precious volumes, what to do when books start taking over your home, and where to find the most atmospheric libraries and bookshops around the world.
This is the ultimate ‘book about books’ to keep by your bedside, and a must-have for any book lover this Christmas!
Anglo-Saxon Myths
Brice Stratford | £16.99
Transport yourself this Christmas to an archaic world overflowing with mythology, magic and all manner of beguiling creatures. An enchanting and atmospheric collection of 30 folk tales, beautifully illustrated by Jesús Sotés, this book is a portal into the fantasy world that inspired hugely popular sagas such as Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings.
Dive headfirst into these ancient tales and timeless epics, told centuries ago by Anglo-Saxon storytellers around the fire. From the Wyrd who weave our fates, to Woden the Wyrm-wise and the flaming axe of Thunner that felled giants and dragons alike, there are tales to intrigue and inspire us all on a cold, dark night.
A Happy Poem to End Every Day
Jane McMorland Hunter | £20.00
These days we’re all in need of a little nugget of happiness to help soothe our weary souls at the end of the day. A Happy Poem to End Every Day provides just that: one sublimely happy poem for every day of the year, from cosy fireside idylls in winter to outdoor adventures in summer, encounters with the beauty of nature in spring and moments of quiet reflection in autumn.
The perfect new anthology to keep by your bedside, this bumper collection of 366 delightfully happy poems will raise your spirits before turning out the light. So lean into the Danish art of hygge and curl up with some candles to discover what literary delight each evening has in store.
Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women
Rosalind Kerven | £12.99
To celebrate the festive season, enter a world in which magic exists, hope wins and every woman’s heart is alive with courage!
In this feast of ancient tales, women and girls draw on their bravery, cunning and wit to overcome astonishing dangers and obstacles. Readers will shudder, cheer and laugh as the heroines face monsters, bandits, dragons and ghosts; admire their courage and wisdom and marvel as they defeat terrifying manifestations of the supernatural. Folklore expert Rosalind Kerven retells these historic folk stories from Scotland, Iceland, Japan, India, Hawaii, Arabia, Iran, Lesotho and all corners of the world.
Nature, Gardening and Pets:
A Flower A day
Miranda Janatka | £20.00
A perfect gift for anyone who loves flowers; A Flower A Day celebrates the beauty of flora with fascinating and richly illustrated stories for every day of the year. From gardener and horticultural writer Miranda Janatka, this glorious book of 366 flowers reveals not only their beauty but the fascinating botanical, literary, folkloric and historical stories behind them.
Take a tour around the world with species ranging from garden favourites such as the humble daisy, to the magnificent magnolia which evolved more than 95 million years ago during the Jurassic eras. Perfect for dipping in and out of, this is a stunning must-have book for any fan of flowers and gardening.
A Year of Birdsong
Dominic Couzens | £20.00
With a renewed interest over the last decade in learning about the natural world around us and how to protect it, this book is the perfect introduction to 52 different species of birds and their songs. A natural wonder that has captivated and fascinated people for generations, birdsong is the soundtrack to life. In this gorgeously illustrated book, leading bird expert and writer Dominic Couzens invites us to enjoy a myriad of birdsong, with one entry for every week of the year.
Appealing to anyone interested in birdwatching and for those looking to understand birds from every corner of the world, delve into a world of birdsong this Christmas.
Bedside Companion for Gardeners
Jane McMorland Hunter | £20.00
For your green-fingered relative or friend, this gorgeous anthology will bring the garden to their bedside every night of the year. A beautifully presented treasure trove of garden poetry and prose, practical advice and wildly impractical ideas; the Bedside Companion for Gardeners invites the reader to dip in and out and draws on writing through the ages. Featuring Vita Sackville-West on the abundance of tulips to Monty Don on the temporal nature of a garden, this book will bring the outdoors in for a moment of escape every evening, and is the perfect gift for any gardener.
Labradors and Whippets
Jane Eastoe | £12.99
A brand-new series for all dog lovers, Labradors and Whippets are two beautifully illustrated guides to dog breeds to give your furry friends the Christmas they deserve! Written from the point of view of the dogs themselves, these guides are packed full of information, tips and tricks to tell you what dogs want in their own words, woofs and wags.
Whether you’re getting a puppy for Christmas (and for life), or have been a dog-owner for decades, these playful and informative books take a fresh look at the world of dogs and explain everything you need to know about these lovable breeds, while celebrating their spirited personalities and their most adorable charms.
Art and Craft:
Millie Marotta’s Island Escape
Millie Marotta | £12.99
Swap the cold weather for some winter sun this year with Millie Marotta’s Island Escape.
‘Queen of colouring’ Millie Marotta is back with an exciting new book to bring to life with colour. Prepare to be whisked away by Island Escape on an adventure around the world where you’re invited to colour in a host of glorious island wildlife. Immerse yourself in a paradise where lizards lounge and sea birds soar, from Madagascar to the remote Svalbard, and Vancouver to the Galápagos Islands. There’s also exotic greenery to add a touch of colour to, from pitcher plants and orchids, to vines and prickly pear trees. Whether tropical or arctic, wind-blown or mountainous, far-flung or closer to home – an island escape full of glorious wildlife awaits to be coloured.
Adam Dant’s Political Maps
Adam Dant | £30.00
For the politically minded, artist and cartographer Adam Dant brings us a timely large-format collection of beautiful fine art maps looking at the fractious world of politics. With his intricate, witty and insightful images, he turns our attention to British politics and beyond; everything from Brexit to the pandemic, past invasions and independence movements, gentrification in London to arcane slang in Paris and New York.
With special attention on details such as Johnson’s London: Notorious places associated with the former Prime Minister, including all the houses he has ever lived in.
These glorious works of art are intricate, amusing and subversive, hugely imaginative and packed with eye-catching detail!
Art of the Limited Palette
Hazel Soan | £19.99
Get creative this winter with bestselling author and artist Hazel Soan as she teaches how to master the art of watercolouring with a limited palette. Using only three colours (sometimes up to five) she demonstrates how to achieve spontaneity and lightness in each painting. Learn how to choose, mix and apply colours for a fresh and lively result that captures a sense of character and place, with step-by-step instructions to guide your approach. The invaluable knowledge she has is showcased in Hazel’s own glorious watercolour paintings, interspersed throughout the book, which reveal how thoughtful combinations can provide infinitely rich and exciting possibilities for the budding watercolour artist.
Tom Eckersley
Paul Rennie | £25.00
For anyone with an eye for design, explore the extensive works of 20th century graphic design icon Tom Eckersley. A perfect coffee table book, featuring hundreds of his recognisable designs for posters and brands from London Transport and the BBC to Guinness and Shell, this richly illustrated book is a wealth of bold, bright colours and flat graphic shapes that are the timeless trademark of Eckersley’s style.
Within this book, design writer and former Eckersley archivist Paul Rennie gives a fascinating exploration of Tom Eckersley’s life and work: through the Second World War to his important role in mid-century graphic design in the decades after. A celebration of a true mid-century modern master, this is the first book on Tom Eckersley of its kind and will appeal to anyone interested in art and graphic design.
Stocking Fillers:
Brian Cook’s Cathedrals and Landscapes of England Jigsaw Puzzles
B.T Batsford | £15.99
Nothing says Christmas like a jigsaw puzzle – introducing Batsford’s brand-new series of jigsaws. Featuring vintage book cover artworks by Brian Cook, immerse yourself in his colourful vision of England with these two new jigsaw puzzles, based on Batsford book jackets from the 1930s. Much-loved, timeless pieces of illustrative art, and highly collectable, Cook’s book covers have been exploded into 1000 pieces, all held in a sustainable paper bag, providing hours of family fun and mindful entertainment this winter.
A History of the World in 100 Limericks
Mick Twister | £6.99
There is a young fellow named Mick
Who’s adapted the old limerick
To cover, with mirth
The whole history of Earth
And what made its characters tick.
Get your relatives giggling at Christmas with this bite-size book of the history of the world in five rib-tickling lines. These 100 lively and humorous limericks by London-based journalist Mick Twister take us back to the beginning of time itself: from the Big Bang to the present day. Covering everyone’s favourite history lessons (and a few surprising ones too), Mick cleverly raids the tomes of the past and picks at the bones of the world’s greatest figures, moments and events. Also a part-time cryptic crossword compiler, Mick Twister reports news in limericks on Twitter as @twitmericks, many of which have been reproduced by the Washington Post and the New Statesman.
The dinosaurs like Allosaurus
Died out quite a long time before us
Which worked in our favour –
We’ve such a nice flavour,
I doubt that they’d want to ignore us.
Cleopatra, Henry VIII, Mary Wollstonecraft, Rosa Parks, Alan Turing and many more all get the limerick treatment along with the Berlin Wall’s Rise and Fall, the Boston Tea Party and the moon landing. Whoever said that history was boring had clearly never read this book!
Such a Sweet Singing
Kirsty Gunn | £12.99
A beautiful collection of poems written to nourish, inspire and change those who read them. A selection of poems written by women, with women’s lives in mind, from the contemporary voices of Fiona Benson and Jane Yeh to the evocative imagery of Christina Rossetti, Anna Akhmatova and Emily Dickinson. These poems explore the worlds of desire and care, responsibility and work, family and friends. Their words empower us with strength and courage, fill us with verve and spirit, and inspire creativity and imagination.
As Gertrude Stein writes, ‘such a sweet singing’ is in the poetry that comes to us clear and lovely from out of the dark. Spanning the globe, from the 1st century to modern times, the voices in this collection are as relevant and powerful today as when they were first written.
Read these poems aloud. Remember them. Share them.
Sex Secrets
Eleanor Tattersfield | £12.99
The perfect Secret Santa gift for your friends, Sex Secrets takes a candid look into how we take our pleasures, from the author of the bestselling Lockdown Secrets. The scurrilous, salacious and often beautifully crafted postcards featured were all sent anonymously to Eleanor’s shop in central London, written by the nation. They reveal illicit liaisons, undisclosed longings, outrageous behaviour, and all manner of weird and wonderful sexual shenanigans. Prepare to get shocked and seduced by this reassuringly explicit book, where truly anything goes!
Perfect Presents from Pitkin:
Abbeys and Priories of Britain
Stephen Platten | £9.99
For those who love historic architecture, this book is a fascinating and definitive guide to the best surviving examples of monastic buildings that have inspired visitors from across the world for centuries. A treasury of over 1000 years of architecture and history, this book tells the story of Britain’s most impressive examples of religious buildings, both architecturally and how they shaped an evolving medieval society.
Divided into geographical locations within the early British Kingdom, the book features 67 abbeys and priories from England, Scotland and Wales. From world-famous centres of religion such has Westminster Abbey, to the more quaint example at the Carthusian ‘Mount Grace Priory’ in the North York Moors, explore the huge range of medieval ecclesiastical architecture right across Great Britain. With beautiful colour images and concise and accessible history, this guide is the perfect introduction to Britain’s abbeys and priories and a great starting point for planning next year’s excursions for anyone interested in architecture and heritage.
The Crown’s Royal Britain
Gill Knappett | £7.99
With a brand-new series just released on Netflix, this illustrated behind-the-scenes tour of the filming locations for ‘The Crown’ brings to life the recreated romance and intrigue at the heart of our royal family. Covering the first four series, this is the perfect opportunity for any fan of ‘The Crown’ to follow in the footsteps of royalty from location to location. From stunning Ely Cathedral that provides the backdrop to the iconic Westminster Abbey for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding, to Belvoir Castle, Hatfield House, Burghley House and many other examples of fabulous architecture, embark on a Great British adventure to see the best that the country has to offer.
Many of the featured sites on this royal tour of Britain are open to the public, so as well as learning about how these places played their part they are a great opportunity to plan a visit and enjoy the spectacle in person with friends and family this festive season.
Bridgerton’s England
Antonia Hicks | £6.99
Launched on Christmas Day 2020, Bridgerton instantly captured the world’s imagination with tales of romance in the Regency. With a spin-off series ‘Queen Charlotte’ set to release early next year, grab a copy of this gorgeous location guide to explore all the key filming sites in the series. Learn about the settings for the Bridgertons, Featheringtons, Lady Danbury, the Duke of Hastings, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, Somerset House, Primrose Hill, and the 18th-century dress shop ‘Modiste’ amongst others, with sites including Hampton Court Palace, Bath’s Royal Crescent, The Holborn Museum and Lancaster House to name but a few. For fans of stately homes and sweeping parks, this is the perfect little stocking filler this year.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926–2022
Brian Hoey | £9.99
Long did she reign and peacefully may she rest: this beautiful and thoughtful tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrates the life of a remarkable woman. With 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in British history. In this richly illustrated commemorative book of her life, royal biographer and broadcaster Brian Hoey describes the childhood, accession and coronation of young Elizabeth, and chronicles her extraordinary and dignified transfiguration into beloved wife, mother and grandmother during her seven decades of unflagging service and dedication as Queen of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth.
The Beatles’ Liverpool
Mike Haskins | £6.99
For all the Beatles’ fans, and there are so many, explore ‘Beatle Land’ and the iconic sites associated with their rise to fame and stardom. The ‘Fab Four’ were all born and brought up in Liverpool and this illustrated guide reveals why the city was crucial to their musical success. With locations behind hit singles such as ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’, as well as famous music venue The Cavern Club, follow in the footsteps of the legendary band around Liverpool and Merseyside to explore more than 50 sites in the city they called home.
Peaky Blinders Location Guide
Antonia Hicks | £6.99
Capturing the world of Tommy Shelby and his racketeering gang from the hit BBC series that has enjoyed worldwide syndication, Peaky Blinders Location Guide reveals over 20 of the most notable sets from all six seasons. Set in the heartland of Britain’s industrial revolution; the West Midlands, the TV series has used locations right across Britain to fully emulate the historic industrial heritage of Birmingham in its 1920s state. Stations, mills, factories and grand houses all feature in this guide, along with Port Sunlight, Manchester’s Town Hall and the banks of the River Wharf. A binge-worthy favourite with so many viewers, pick up a copy of this book while settling into the latest season that is available on BBC Iplayer.
A History of Royal Britain in 100 Objects
Gill Knappett | £16.99
With the eyes of the world fixed on Britain’s royal family this year, this glorious book takes a regal journey through the centuries to discover the significance of 100 objects – some famous, others more obscure – that have shaped British history. Over 1000 years of royal history are told through these fascinating objects, from the glory of coronation regalia to coins, medals and stamps; each item in this book has a story to tell. Ordered chronologically by monarch, from Alfred the Great to Queen Elizabeth II, turn the pages to learn about the long and bloody royal history of this nation to the present day.
Our books are available from good bookshops and online booksellers. You’ll also find our recommended Christmas gift guide list on Bookshop.org.
