A fascinating insight into Britain’s industrial past as evidenced by its buildings, richly illustrated with intricate line drawings.

Industrial Britain goes far beyond the mills and machine houses of the Industrial Revolution to give an engaging insight into Britain’s industrial heritage. It looks at the power stations and monumental bridges of Britain, including the buildings and engineering projects associated with the distribution of manufactured goods – docks, canals, railways and warehouses.

• The gasworks
• Temples of mass production
• The mill
• Warehouse and manufactory
• Dock and harbour buildings
• Water power and water storage
• Waterways: canals and rivers
• The railway age
• Breweries and oast houses
• Markets and exchanges
• The twentieth century: industry on greenfield sites

It’s a story of industrial development, but also a story of its ultimate decline. As manufacturing has been increasingly replaced by services, new uses have been found for at least some of the country’s great industrial buildings. Not least as containers for art and heritage, such as the Bankside Power Station (Tate Modern) and Salts Mill. Other buildings featured are still used as originally intended today, such as Smithfield Market in London and the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham.

Illustrated throughout with over 200 original line drawings, Industrial Britain is a celebration of industrial architecture and its enduring legacy.

An exciting new approach to flower painting with step-by-step demonstrations for creating contemporary flower portraits and landscapes that are truly unique.

This is more than a ‘how-to’ on flower painting. It is a guide encouraging artists to explore new and exciting ways to create flower paintings bursting with individuality and moving towards a contemporary and impressionist style.

Mixed-media artist Soraya French, well known for her gloriously vibrant flower paintings, shares the secrets of her work, with expert advice on all aspects of this endlessly rewarding subject. The book covers:

• Colours, shapes, patterns and textures particular to various flowers through the seasons, from fresh green foliage in the spring to rich red and gold hues in the autumn.
• How to incorporate flowers in both still life and landscape paintings, pictured in woodlands, seascapes, meadows and hedgerows as well as vases.
• How to assemble the perfect palette for flower painting and how to mix vibrant secondary colours, subtle tints and natural greens.
• The huge range of painting materials available today, from traditional watercolour to vividly coloured wax pastels to innovative textural mediums such as crackle paste and glass bead gel.
• The secrets of good composition and how to lead the eye around a painting, giving a sense of rhythm and movement while maintaining unity and harmony.

Packed with exciting new ideas and illustrated with stunning examples of Soraya’s own work, this book will take your flower painting to a new level and help you find your unique visual voice.

The generous reception given to Understanding Fashion History when it was first published in 2004 recognised it as a timely reappraisal of the role of fashion and its place in society. The book introduces the reader to the ways fashionable dress has been defined and studied since the late 17th century, considering the theories that surround the subject, the assembling and use of collections of fashion and textiles, the significance of dress and art, the tension between uniformity of appearance and disguise, and the purpose of theatrical costume. 

This book has been read and recommended by academics, collectors, curators, students and general readers who want context for the contemporary obsession with fashion. Constantly in demand, it has become a classic text in its field.

The classic text on coppicing and woodland crafts, redesigned for a new generation of woodspeople.

If you’re lucky enough to have access to a patch of woodland, this book contains everything you need to set up, manage and profit from a thriving coppice. But even if you don’t, there’s plenty of information on traditional woodland crafts here for you: learn how to work with bought coppiced wood to make all manner of products, from the archetypal besom broom and humble tent pegs to sturdy gate hurdles.

Woodland crafts expert Ray Tabor guides you through a range of heritage woodland conservation methods. He introduces the best tools for each job – the time-honoured woodsman’s billhook being the most important of all – and the devices you’ll need. He shows how to select wood for each purpose, from ash, traditionally used for tool handles, to chestnut for making perfect fences. There’s also an in-depth exploration of the essential art of riving (splitting wooden poles by hand).

Full of invaluable advice, historical information, useful diagrams and evocative photography, this book will help you reconnect to nature and the environment, and gain immense pleasure from creating beautiful crafted products using heritage methods.

A visitor’s guide to Midsomer, pinpointing the most popular real-world locations used for filming the series.

‘Midsomer Murders’ was an immediate success from its very first episode ‘The Killing at Badger’s Drift’, aired in 1997. With this guide, fans of the show can pinpoint the most popular locations used for filming the series, including familiar pubs, churches, villages and countryside that are open for visits. The guide features:

• Famous pubs such as The Lions at Bledlow, which has been five different pubs in its Midsomer lifetime, and The Crown in Sydenham, which can claim at least three.
• Villages clustered around the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire border – Turville, Hambleden, Fingest, Haddenham and Long Crendon, all favourite backdrops in the show.
• Grand country houses including the Mapledurham Estate, Chenies Manor House and Dorney Court, all open to the public.
• Ancient churches to admire, quite often the scene of grisly goings on in the vestry.
• Short profiles on the two DCI Barnabys, John Nettles and Neil Dudegon, along with the five Detective Sergeants and Sykes the dog.

With all episodes available on BritBox, fans of the show can watch old episodes with the Midsomer Murders Location Guide in hand and spot exactly where Inspector Barnaby brings the sometimes unlikely villains to book.

‘A friendly and approachable book on a game which can often seem quite daunting … An excellent book, highly recommended.’ – Parents in Touch

‘With Sabrina as writer, no basic points are omitted … This might make an excellent present.’ – James Pratt, British Chess Magazine

A brand new edition of this international chess classic, with all-new illustrations.

Aimed at children aged 7 and up, this character-based book is a complete guide to chess for those starting out in the game. In straightforward, animated language, Jess and Jamie – two rough-and-tumble kids who are obsessed with chess – explain everything you need to know, from first sitting down at the board to sneaky tricks to help you beat your opponents.

The book explains who the pieces are and how they move (and that we’re talking about pawns, not prawns), how to reach checkmate (or, in Jess’s words, ‘how to kill the king’), and the concept of the opening, middlegame and endgame. It also introduces the idea of chess etiquette – and explains why sometimes no one wins and a game ends in stalemate.

Friendlier and funnier than the average children’s chess book, The Batsford Book of Chess for Children is an essential addition to any child’s bookshelf.

Chess is experiencing a new wave of popularity in schools, and it’s educational too. Organisations like Chess in Schools are promoting it as the perfect way to develop analytical thinking skills, increase resilience, foster the competitive instinct – and provide a lot of fun along the way.

Acclaimed mixed-media artist Mike Bernard has been at the forefront of collage painting for decades and his work has a sought-after vitality. He brings his latest guidance, ideas and techniques on a subject about which he is passionate: coastal painting. From his home near the Devon coast, he and co author (art writer) Susie Hodge, cover all aspects of mixed media painting. From considering composition and looking for contrasts to reducing elements for greater impact (and even moving towards abstraction). From working with limited palettes to including imaginary colours to a painting. From collaging with torn magazines, tin foil, plastic, newsprint to combining inks, oil pastels, PVA, acrylic and watercolours. From playing with proportion to create mood to using thick and thin oils for effect. And, of course, how to capture the mood and atmosphere of coastal life, from quiet stretches to busy harbours around the world. 

The authors include several step-by-step projects to demonstrate techniques plus a series of experimental exercises helps the reader try something new.

A masterclass from a popular artist with stunning artwork of coasts from around the globe. 

“One of the wonders of the world” Harold Nicolson

 From its humble origins, Bodnant (which in Welsh means ‘dwelling by the stream’), this historic Grade 1 listed garden has become a must-visit attraction for garden lovers around the globe.

Nestled in the Conwy Valley, in the foothills of Snowdonia, the climate and soil – as well as the vision of five generations of one family – have shaped this garden into a world-class masterpiece.

With eighty acres that include elegant terraces, glades, dells and water gardens – and not least the famous laburnum arch – theatrical vistas await at every viewpoint.

Bodnant Garden was given into the care of the National Trust in 1949 and with their support and commitment to continue the legacy they are intent on making Bodnant accessible and enjoyed widely by all.

Highlights include:

• Laburnum Arch – a dazzling 55 metre walkway under a pergola of golden flowers

• The Dell – a valley of giant trees and a meandering river

• The Italianate Terraces – breathe in the fragrance of beautiful old roses as you explore the terraces

• Rhododendrons – see some of the award-winning plants and hybrids that have established Bodnant on the world horticultural stage

An essential sourcebook of prints from a key fashion decade.

The 1950s was the decade when an analytical approach to design, with a lightness and freshness, combined with whimsical imagery and idiosyncratic subject matter. Showcasing hundreds of print designs, this book celebrates the heyday of postwar fashion design.

From Lucienne Day and Robert Stewart to Maija Isola of Marimekko, the designs and influences of the print icons of the time are all covered. In addition to finished prints, the book contains exclusive illustrations and original artworks.

The major themes of the period are explored, including: narrative and novelty; abstraction, exploring the distorted and attenuated forms used in print; artistic licence and the influence of contemporary art on fashion print; and finally kinetic prints that capture the influence of the era’s ‘mobiles, doodles and spasms’. Each short chapter introduction is followed by a range of illustrations with captions to give provenance and relevance, making this a unique sourcebook for contemporary designers and students.

A passionate and purposeful book on finding real creativity through nature.

An essential book for our times and all artists at whatever level. In her most passionate and personal book to date, acclaimed watercolour artist Ann Blockley takes both budding and more experienced artists through a series of ideas for working with nature – in its widest sense – to nurture our creativity, inspire us, make us more sustainable artists, and replenish energy and flow when our artistic streams run dry.

In ‘Go Outside and Play’, the author exhorts artists to recapture a fun, no-pressure way of being outside and use that feeling when creating. In ’Connecting Materials to Place’ she creates her own paint from the local pond. In ‘The Slow Movement’, the artist reveals her year of working on a specific local hedgerow and painting a series of different interpretation in its every-changing detail. She created regular creative rituals, using her weekly playing card as a starting point for a new painting to reflect the season each week. She reuses old paintings, and tissue and paper – wabi-sabi style – to create new textures and even new paintings. 

Including work from other artists as well as her own, she shows the ideas and work from textile and mixed-media artists. From allotment inspiration to reusing old painting and from nature prints to the alchemy of found materials, this is a journey to find new creativity through our connection with our natural world.

Introducing Britain’s finest examples of brutalist architecture.

Brutalist architecture is more popular now than it has ever been. Imposing and dramatic, with monolithic concrete exteriors, it forms an enduring part of our post-war urban landscape. This beautifully photographed book is an authoritative survey of the finest British examples from the very late 1950s to the 1970s, from leading architectural writer Elain Harwood, following on from her acclaimed books on art deco and mid-century architecture.

It features iconic public buildings like London’s National Theatre, imposing housing such as the Trellick Tower in West London and Park Hill in Sheffield, great educational institutions including the University of Sussex, and places of worship such as Liverpool’s glorious Metropolitan Cathedral, along with some lesser-known buildings such as Arlington House on Margate’s sea front.

Headed up with an introduction that places British brutalism within the context of global events and contemporary world architecture, the huge range of buildings is arranged into Private Houses and Flats, Public Housing, Educational Buildings, Public Buildings, Shops, Markets and Town Centres, Culture and Sport, Places of Worship, Offices and Industry and Transport, and there is a chapter on the atmospheric brutalist sculptures and murals that dot our cities.

If you’re part of the increasingly large ranks of brutalism fans, or interested in late 20th-century architecture and society in general, Brutalist Britain is the book for you.

A classic guide from beekeeping expert Ron Brown OBE.

A charming and practical guide for anyone wishing to keep bees, accompanying the would-be beekeeper through every season of the bee-keeping year. From spring awakening and summer swarms to the autumn honey harvest and providing winter protection, this essential resource guides you each step of the way.

There is extensive advice for beekeeping beginners, from siting and smoking your hives to rearing a queen and controlling your swarm. There is also in-depth information for improvers and more experienced apiarists who wish to experiment with different hive-management and queen-rearing techniques. Troubleshooting tips on protecting your hives and keeping your bees healthy are also covered. The book is also packed with practical advice on using beeswax, and of course, extracting and making the tastiest honey.