WINNER in the Architectural Book Awards 2024.

SHORTLISTED in the British Book Design and Production Awards 2024.

A celebration of sea swimming – looking at the architecture, history and social significance of sea pools around the world.

The sea can be challenging and changeable. Protected from the dangers of currents, crashing waves and extreme cold, sea pools (also known as tidal or ocean pools) are manmade pools that provide a safe space for swimmers to enjoy the benefits of the sea at all states of the tide and weather. 

Sea Pools begins with an introduction to sea pools within the history of outdoor swimming, their unique designs and architectural significance and commentary on the resurgent appreciation for sea swimming in the 21st century. Chris Romer-Lee selects 66 of the most beautiful and culturally significant sea pools from around the world, including the 25-metre cliffside Avalon Rock Pool in new South Wales, Australia, the sublime Pozo de las Calcosas in Spain that is shrouded in volcanic rock, and Ireland’s historic Vico Baths to name but a few.

Sea Pools also includes four insightful essays: Nicola Larkin looks to the next generation of ocean pools in her exploration of how we can conserve, protect and regenerate the coastline; Therese Spruhan testifies to the healing and transformative benefits of ocean swimming; Freya Bromley discusses her odyssey to swim in every sea pool in Britain; and Kevin Fellingham reflects on the importance of sea pools in South Africa.

The book is illustrated throughout with beautiful colour photography, as well as fascinating archive material to give an insight into the provenance of these vital sanctuaries.

Capturing the world of Tommy Shelby and his racketeering gang in over 20 locations.

‘Peaky Blinders’ is set in the heartland of Britain’s industrial revolution, the West Midlands. But to perfectly capture the world of Tommy Shelby and his gang, the producers have used locations right across Britain. This illustrated guide reveals over 20 locations, along with episode references, so viewers can check out exactly which stations, mills, factories and grand house were featured on screen. Locations include:

• The Black Country Living Museum Situated on the canal in Dudley and open all year round to the public, this museum shows West Midlands’ industrial heritage.
• Manchester’s impressive 1877 town hall Used when Sam Neill’s character meets Churchill; while the city’s Grade II-listed Edwardian swimming pool, the Victoria Baths, was mocked up for a horse fair.
• Port Sunlight A model industrial village on the Wirral that has been preserved thanks to its single ownership and strict leaseholds, which sets the backdrop for Aunt Polly’s Sutton Coldfield House.
• Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in Yorkshire, which once served mills and villages in the Worth valley is used as one of the locations for the Blinder’s many train station scenes.

Leading expert and passionate advocate of modern British architecture Elain Harwood gives the best overview of British architecture from 1938 to 1963 – mid-century buildings.

Growing in popularity and with an increasing understanding of their importance as a background to our lives, the buildings range from the Royal Festival Hall, Newcastle City Hall and to Deal Pier and Douglas ferry terminal, from prefabs and ice cream parlours to Coventry Cathedral and the Golden Lane Estate. The author writes in non-technical, layman’s language about the design, architecture and also the influence of these buildings on the lives of our towns and cities.  

The author has arranged the huge variety of buildings into: Houses and Flats: Churches and Public Buildings; Offices; Shops; Showrooms and Cafes; Hotels and Public Houses; Cinemas, Theatres and Concert Halls; Industrial Buildings and Transport. There is an insightful introduction that places these buildings in the context of 20th-century architecture generally and globally. All fantastically photographed to make this a must have for anyone interested in our built heritage. 

Postwar Britain architects often saw architecture as a powerful means to improve the quality of our lives after the shadow of war. This is the fascinating story of what they built to meet that challenge. 

Cover illustration by Paul Catherall

A compelling collection of anonymous postcards sent during lockdown, revealing hilarious, salacious, relatable and sometimes heartbreaking secret confessions.

In the thick of the 2021 coronavirus lockdown, designer and shopowner Eleanor Tattersfield put out a call on Instagram: ‘I’ll send you a postcard, you send me a secret’. Lockdown Secrets is an astonishing record of what happened next.

Postcards poured in, some beautifully decorated, some simply handwritten, but each one anonymously sharing a very personal confession. They came from people of all ages and all walks of life, including some celebrities. Prominent themes began to emerge: relationships, sex, masturbation, food, rebellion, loneliness and, surprisingly, a lot of love for lockdown itself.

This beautiful book brings together the best of the postcards Eleanor received, and all human life is here: furtive infidelities, bad behaviour in the local bakery, sneaking off for baths during a busy homeschooling schedule, rediscovered marital bliss, and, occasionally, poignant moments of sadness and despair.

We’ve all been through the lockdown experience, and every reader will find something to relate to in this fascinating collection, a perfect snapshot of an extraordinary time.

An insightful new book that is perfect for newcomers to chess inspired by Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit.

Written by one of the best chess communicators in the business, chess master and chess journalist Andy Soltis divulges practical advice and explains technical terms that chess books often overlook. From learning how to train your mind with chess information to choosing the best chess opening, dip in and out of this invaluable guide to improve your chess in a minutes. 

Chess questions answered in this book include:

• Is there a best way to study chess?
• How do I know if I have a natural talent?
• How important is chess memory and how can I train mine?
• How long should I think before choosing a move? 
• Is there a proper way to think? Can I think like a chess computer?
• How do I develop chess intuition? 

Don’t try to swallow too much information in one sitting. Dip in and out of these great chess questions to better understand the game and let the improvement happen incrementally. 

Unbuilt tells the stories of the plans, drawings and proposals that emerged during the 20th century in an unparalleled era of optimism in architecture.

Many of these grand projects stayed on the drawing board, some were flights of fancy that couldn’t be built, and in other cases test structures or parts of buildings did emerge in the real world. The book features the work of Buckminster Fuller, Geoffrey Bawa, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Archigram, as well as contemporary architects such as Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, Will Alsop and Rem Koolhaas.

Richly illustrated with photographs, drawings, maps, collages and models from all over the world, it covers everything from Buckminster Fuller’s plan for a ‘Domed city’ in Manhattan to Le Corbusier’s utopian dream of skyscraper living in central Paris, from a proposed network of motorways ploughing through central London to a crazy-looking scheme for ‘rolling pavements’ in post-war Berlin. 

This is an important book, not just for the rich stories of what might have been in our built world, but also to give understanding to the motivations and dreams of architects, sometimes to build a better world, but sometimes to pander to egos. It includes plans that pushed the boundaries – from plug-in cities, moving cities, space cities, domes and floating cities to Maglev, teleportation and rockets. Many ideas were just ahead of their time, and some, thankfully, we were always better without. 

Inspiration and practical tips on incorporating the everyday into textile art.

In Embroidering the Everyday, acclaimed textile artist Cas Holmes explores the ‘everyday’ and the ‘domestic’, generating a wealth of inspiration and raw material to create textile work that resonates with time and place.

Cas invites us to re-examine the world and use the limitations sometimes imposed by geographic area or individual circumstances as a rich resource to develop ideas for mixed media textiles in a more thoughtful way. With techniques and projects throughout, the book explores:

• How to be more resourceful with what we have to hand, including working with vintage scraps, homemade dyes and papers, and even teabags and biscuits.
• Rediscovering family history and how photographs and objects can provide inspiration, including Cas’s own exploration of her Romani heritage.
• Drawing inspiration from our local landscape and how it changes through the seasons.
• How to transform materials with mark-making, printing, image transfer, collage and stitch.

Packed with inspirational work from the author, and other leading practitioners who place the everyday at the heart of their work, this treasure trove of ideas, techniques and practical projects is an essential guide for our times.

Enter a world in which magic exists, hope wins and every woman’s heart is alive with courage!

This global feast of ancient tales features valiant women overcoming every kind of obstacle and danger to fulfil their destinies. Travel through Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific. Shudder, cheer and laugh out loud as the heroines deal with trolls, faeries, dragons and ghosts; admire their knowledge, wit and cunning; marvel at shapeshifting and other manifestations of the supernatural.

A rich collection of fairy tales, beautifully illustrated throughout with Joe McClaren woodcuts, this book is stitched together like a series of Scheherazade stories. It is story-telling at its best, pitch perfect fairy tales of fearless women for readers everywhere.

WINNER, Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2022: Illustrated Travel Book of the Year. HIGHLY COMMENDED, British Cartographic Society Awards 2022.

From Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot to the superhero land of Wakanda, from Lilliput of Gulliver’s Travels to Springfield in The Simpsons, this is a wondrous atlas of imagined places around the world. Locations from film, tv, literature, myths, comics and video games are plotted in a series of beautiful vintage-looking maps.

The maps feature fictional buildings, towns, cities and countries plus mountains and rivers, oceans and seas. Ever wondered where the Bates Motel was based? Or Bedford Falls in It’s a Wonderful Life? The authors have taken years to research the likely geography of thousands of popular culture locations that have become almost real to us. Sometimes these are easy to work out, but other times a bit of detective work is needed and the authors have been those detectives. By looking at the maps, you’ll find that the revolution at Animal Farm happened next to Winnie the Pooh’s home.

Each location has an an extended index entry plus coordinates so you can find it on the maps. Illuminating essays accompanying the maps give a great insight into the stories behind the imaginary places, from Harry Potter’s wizardry to Stone Age Bedrock in the Flintstones.

A stunning map collection of invented geography and topography drawn from the world’s imagination. Fascinating and beautiful, this is an essential book for any popular culture fan and map enthusiast.

Discover the life of trees through science, folklore, history and art – every day of the year.

Immerse yourself in the world of trees with A Tree A Day – packed with tree facts and richly illustrated throughout with photographs and art. Nature writer Amy-Jane Beer takes us on a tour around the world’s woodlands to tell the stories of a variety of trees, from mysterious ginkos to historical oaks.

Anyone who has sat in the dappled shade of a mighty oak or wandered in the blaze of a deciduous woodland in autumn cannot fail to appreciate the wonder of our trees and forests. Each of the 366 entries in this beautiful book – one for every day of the year – reveals some of the fascinating science, natural history or folklore of our great and gracious green neighbours, the history made beneath their branches, or the creativity they inspire.

From the awesome Californian redwoods, titans of the tree world, to tiny but exquisite bonsai, and from the fantastically irritable sentinel willow of Harry Potter fame to the Japanese springtime tradition of hanami (blossom viewing) – this captivating collection showcases remarkable individuals and explores some of the ways trees support life on Earth as we know it.

Celebrating one of the longest-living lifeforms on earth, A Tree A Day is forest bathing in book form and a wonder for nature lovers and tree enthusiasts alike.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has carried out her role as Sovereign with flawless professionalism. Her demeanour has been perfect, and in the seventy years she has reigned she has epitomised all the hallmarks of an iconic sovereign beloved of her people.

As Heir Presumptive, the young Princess Elizabeth received special tuition in law and constitutional history to prepare her for her future role as Sovereign.

When she succeeded her father, King George VI, on 6^th February 1952, Elizabeth was only twenty-five years old. Married for just five years with two young children, her life changed irrevocably. The responsibilities of monarchy have taken precedence over all else, and the public duties invariably have first call on the Queen’s time and energy.

This book celebrates the highlights and challenges of the Queen’s reign over the past seven decades:

• Recalls Princess Elizabeth’s childhood and the war years
• Includes accounts of the Accession and Coronation when she was still a young woman
• Details each decade of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, focussing on both her working life and her family
• Describes in detail a typical working day for the sovereign
• A special focus on the enduring contribution Her Majesty has made to life in the UK and the Commonwealth, as well as her enviable reputation worldwide
• A true celebration in honour of our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

An entertaining and enthralling collection of myths, tales and traditions surrounding our trees, woodlands and forests from around the world.

From the dark, gnarled woodlands of the north, to the humid jungles of the southern lands, trees have captured humanity’s imagination for millennia. Filled with primal gods and goddesses, dryads and the fairy tales of old, the forests still beckon to us, offering sanctuary, mystery and more than a little mischievous trickery. From insatiable cannibalistic children hewn from logs, to lumberjack lore, and the spine-chilling legend of Bloody Mary, there is much to be found between the branches. Come into the trees; witches, seductive spirits and big, bad wolves await you.

With this book, Folklore Thursday aim to encourage a sense of belonging across all cultures by showing how much we all have in common.