An exquisite literary anthology that celebrates life’s comforts and joys, both big and small.

This warm and welcoming anthology concentrates on the things that make us happy, from spending time in nature and seeing our friends, to enjoying the comfort of being at home. The Cosy Commonplace Book contains a rich selection of quotations from novels, letters and diaries and poems from a wide range of writers including Jackie Kay, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges, Sara Teasdale and many more.

Alongside the literary content, Miranda Mills provides a wealth of additional features including book lists to help you plan your reading, TV and film recommendations, recipes and lists of cosy activities for all times of the year.

Chapters include: Celebrating Cosy Season; Nature’s Tonic; No Place Like Home; Simple Pleasures; Wise Words for a Happy Life; Love and Friendship.

Illustrated with enchanting domestic scenes and pretty, colourful background designs, this book is perfect to dip in and out of, to bring joy to your everyday life.

An enthralling chess biography of the celebrated player José Raúl Capablanca, documenting his greatest matches to give new insights to his tactical brilliance and incisive playing style.

This important book marks the life and games of a much-celebrated chess legend, and is vital to any chess player’s collection. Learn all about José Raúl Capablanca, his rigorous style and conceptual discoveries and how they exist in a modern context, and the moves that made him the best in the world.

Renowned Swedish chess author and chess master Thomas Engqvist plays through the best and most famous games of his chess idol José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942). Capablanca is widely recognised as one of the greatest chess players of all time, whose reign as unbeaten World Champion from 1921 to 1927 is seen as a vital turning point between the old-fashioned Classical School of chess to the ‘Hypermodern’ period which is still influential to this day.

With thirteen chapters that deep-dive into some of Capablanca’s more famous and influential games, this book contains many illustrative chess boards so you can play through the games yourself, move by move, accompanied by Engqvist’s insightful commentary, as well as a selection of photos of Capablanca throughout his career for a more visual insight into his life. 

The sixth title in the beloved ‘Bedside Companion’ series, this anthology provides 366 extracts on the sea. 

A joyful mix of fact and fiction, prose and poetry, this anthology is the best way to enjoy the wonders of the sea while staying delightfully dry. This evocative collection will please anyone and everyone, from the most avid surfers to those who choose to observe from the beachy shore. Whether you dreamed of becoming a swashbuckling pirate as a child or you feel a thalassophobic fascination with huge bodies of water, there will be entries sure to intrigue and delight.

Immerse yourself in salty scenes from classic literature taken from greats such as Herman Melville, Anthony Trollope and Virginia Woolf, and mark seaside-themed recipes for the next time you have to impress a sailor for dinner; linger in ghostly shipwrecks and wash up on desert islands; learn about coastlines and smugglers, and follow along with those who have sailed around the world. 

Keep this gorgeous anthology by your bedside for a nightly dip or a morning refresher into the mysterious world of the sea, with one entry for every day of the year. 

Learn the secrets behind some of the most classic moves in chess in this timeless best seller. 

In this refreshed version of a much loved classic, Irving Chernev explains 33 complete classic games in detail, telling the reader the reason for every single move. Playing through these games and explanations gives a real insight into the power of the pieces and how to play them most effectively.

Chernev thoughtfully explains the decision-making process and contextual meaning behind each move as it’s made. This makes it easy to follow along and reap the rewards of his wisdom, assimilating what makes a bad move, a good move, or a winning move.

Whether you’ve been playing chess for years or you’ve recently been introduced to the game through its newfound resurgence in popularity through chess clubs and popular media, this book can help you learn how to strengthen your abilities through the power of positional play, and how to appreciate the consequences of actions made or not made on the board, with this enduring bestseller from one of history’s most highly regarded chess writers, passed down from generation to generation of players as one of the greatest chess texts of all time. 

An exploration of abstract textile work with practical tips on how to progress from the realistic to the abstract within your own practice.

From Amish quilts through to contemporary makers, abstract textile work is a captivating art form that can capture a mood or feeling. In this fascinating book, renowned textile artist and tutor Anne Kelly shows you how to incorporate abstraction into your own work through experimentation and process. From shapes, colours and surface patterns to line art and textile influences, you will be armed with everything you need to make and experience your own personal responses to the theme.

Beautiful artworks by the author illustrate the themes and techniques in the book. There are also contributions from other exciting contemporary artists and makers, such as Sarah Z. Short, Lorna Crane, Iain Perry and Helen Banzhaf.

Chapters include:

• From Nature to Abstract: Getting Started.
• Shapes and Colour: Midcentury Influences.
• Surface Pattern and Mixing Media.
• Capturing Emotion.
• Playing and Process: Materials and Experimentation.

This fascinating and evocative book is suitable for all ages and abilities, from students to experienced practitioners, or anybody seeking to inject new inspiration into their textile practice.

This rich treasure trove of twentieth century Batsford book covers showcases the very best of this venerable publisher’s design heritage.

Founded by Bradley Thomas Batsford in 1843, Batsford has forged a strong reputation for niche publishing, in subjects such as textile art, practical art and craft, architecture and design, heritage and chess. Batsford books are both accessible and beautiful, and their quality means they sell for years, often decades.

The covers in this beautiful book have been chosen from the extensive collection of book collector Paul Dimond. The collection includes the iconic covers of Brian Cook, which are recognised and collected worldwide, as well as beautifully tooled cloth bindings, Art Deco gems, mid-century architecture titles and quirky designs from the 60s and 70s. Rich with stunning photographs of these iconic jackets, The Book Cover explores the development of book cover design over the twentieth century.

This book is a labour of love that showcases the very best of Batsford’s design heritage and will delight book collectors and design enthusiasts alike.

Classic survey of one of the greatest achievements of medieval European art, now reissued in a stylish hardback edition.

Today, the stained glass of Canterbury Cathedral is not only world famous; it is also, thanks to a sustained and meticulous conservation programme, a revelation. For the first time in centuries, visitors can appreciate the true vibrancy of its colours and the breathtaking artistry of its compositions.

This lavishly illustrated book, now reissued in a redesigned hardback edition, features the finest of the medieval glass along with notable examples of later glass including Christopher Whall’s Arts and Crafts-style designs and the striking modern work of Ervin Bossanyi. Whole windows, narrative series of scenes and stunning details dating from the twelfth to the twenty-first centuries are featured in this celebration of the cathedral’s world-class collection of stained glass.

In a classic text that is popular with specialists and general readers alike, Dr M. A. Michael, an expert on medieval visual culture, explains the imagery and historical context of the stained glass and reveals how it was made. The Bible and Miracle windows, for example, are examined for their visual linking of biblical stories and representations of ordinary men and women, as well as the unique styles of the artists involved in their production.

A final chapter by Dr Sebastian Strobl, former director of stained-glass conservation at Canterbury Cathedral, tells the fascinating story of early restoration and modern-day conservation at the cathedral, with photographs illustrating the techniques employed and the transforming results.

Essential reading for anyone interested in stained glass windows. 

Take on winter with these 25 cozy winter knitting patterns.

Knitwear designer Maja Karlsson has created 25 cosy woollen knitting projects to keep you warm throughout winter, whether it’s through making or wearing them. Ranging from simpler quick-knit garments, such as mittens, leg warmers, socks and hats, to larger projects for the more experienced knitter, including jumpers, cardigans, shawls and even hot pants, this book is a fun mix of projects sure to brighten up both your wardrobe and winter evenings. 

Maya is an experienced knitter and pattern maker, and has created easy-to-follow descriptions and diagrams for each project, which are size inclusive and graded according to difficulty. The text is full of Maja’s advice, tips and tricks, as well as a ‘knitting school’ that looks in more detail at some of the steps that require a little extra attention. There are handy guides to many aspects of knitting from the basic, such as casting off, blocking and stitch increases and decreases, to the more advanced, such as the Latvian Braid, invisible seams and even mending your garments. 

As always with Maja’s books, they are beautifully illustrated with fantastic photography by Helene Pé, bringing life and colour to each project. Simply put, this book makes your fingers itch to start knitting!

What constituted a secret or a scandal in times gone by? This entertaining title in this new series gives an overview of the times and attitudes to ‘secrets’, and what was meant by a ‘scandal’.

The series uncovers revelations of spies and plots, financial scandals, secrets of the royal bedchambers, dynastic tangles, and the exploits of both villains and so-called saints. Noble lords and ladies sampled the same pleasures and sometimes met the same ghastly fate as common criminals. Enemies of the state plotted and were plotted against, while a horrible fate awaited those found guilty of treason, hanged, drawn and quartered to the jeers of the mob. Assassins lurked in alleys, ghoulish body snatchers opened graves in the dead of night…

This highly illustrated guide includes places associated with the stories.

This is a beautiful and informative guidebook and history of Nelson. A captain before he was 21; a household name throughout most of Europe at 39; killed in action just after his 47th birthday; Nelson lived a colourful, crowded and short life. He master-minded some of British history’s most resounding victories – at the Nile in 1798, Copenhagen in 1801 and Trafalgar in 1805 – losing an arm and the sight in one eye in the process. He also had a tempestuous and very public love affair with Emma Hamilton, one of the most beautiful women of her day. Affectionate, engaging, a devoted frient and father, he was also ruthless and occasionally even cruel. Uninspiring and less than heroic in his personal appearance, he was still one of Britain’s most charismatic leaders, able to inspire devotion, even love, in those who served with him. It is this combination of opposites that makes Nelson so fascinating: there is always something new to be said about him, some new insight into his complex character. Thanks to discoveries by many researchers at the time of the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005 we now know more than ever about the real man – his precise role in his most significant battles and the conduct of his closest relationships. this small book, drawing on the Nelson exhibitions and collections at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, offers a brief introduction to the story of the man who is still widely regarded as one of Brtiain’s greatest heroes.

What constituted a secret or a scandal in times gone by? This entertaining title in this new series gives an overview of the times and attitudes to ‘secrets’, and what was meant by a ‘scandal’.

The series uncovers revelations of spies and plots, financial scandals, secrets of the royal bedchambers, dynastic tangles, and the exploits of both villains and so-called saints. Noble lords and ladies sampled the same pleasures and sometimes met the same ghastly fate as common criminals. Enemies of the state plotted and were plotted against, while a horrible fate awaited those found guilty of treason, hanged, drawn and quartered to the jeers of the mob. Assassins lurked in alleys, ghoulish body snatchers opened graves in the dead of night…

On Christmas Eve 1801, Cornish mining engineer Richard Trevithick tested the first steam locomotive on the road. Though it was short-lived, exploding four days later, this was the beginning of the railway age in Britain.

By the end of the 18th century, there was a considerable number of railways across Britain with well established steam engines. This informative guide tells the story of these railways, beginning with the pioneers of locomotive engines and the navvies who built the railways themselves.

A must for anyone interested in the history of the railways, industrial Britain and travel, this informative guide explores the lives of those on the railway. Train guards, station staff and passengers are all touched on, as well as underground railways and tragic rail disasters. Colour photographs and illustrations bring the golden age of rail in Britain to life.

Includes a list of places to visit which specialize in railways, as well as a glossary of the key terms in the book.