An eclectic collection of prose, poetry and practical advice for every day of the year. 

A mix of fact and fiction, fantasy and experience, the Bedside Companion for Gardeners is a treasure trove of green-fingered inspiration where practical advice blends seamlessly with poetry and prose from intrepid gardeners past and present. Dip in and out of this collection with an entry for every night of the year that draws on writing through the ages and from across the globe.

The Bedside Companion for Gardeners incorporates practical advice from the 17th-century gardening diarist John Evelyn; inspiring prose from Elizabeth von Arnim and John Milton; astute commentary from Horace Walpole on William Kent and Nancy Mitford on the vulgarity of a Surrey garden. Kipling offers practical advice, while Tennyson waxes lyrical on an Arabian night garden.

The perfect gift for any gardener, this magical book is an invaluable source of inspiration and guidance to revisit throughout the year. 

Sail away on an ocean odyssey with best-selling illustrator Millie Marotta as she takes to you on a voyage of discovery from the Arctic waters to the balmy Australian coast.

Swim with dolphins, narwhals, manatees, and manta ray. Look up to the cries of albatrosses, pelicans and little auks. Grab your pencils and bring to life jellyfish, puffins and polar bears.

The watery world is particularly close to Millie’s heart and she brings her passion to these intricate drawings of shells, pebbles, corals and barnacles. She includes cliffs, reefs, waves and islands to help set the scene. This is a must for all colouring fans and particularly the thousands of Millie fans who love her patterned illustration style that allows for the most creative of colouring. 

Colouring Millie’s beautiful illustrations is the perfect mindful activity for these troubling times, and new and old Millie fans will find so much to enjoy (and learn) about the animal kingdom of the seas. Millie shares her love for the world above and below our seas and hopes this book will spur us to protect a true wonder of our world.

An illustrated anthology of poetry celebrating life in England’s capital.

‘Earth hath not anything to show more fair’ said Wordsworth of London in 1802. Hundreds of years on, the same can still be said of Britain’s largest metropolis. Favourite Poems of London is a wonderful anthology of poetry celebrating England’s capital and life as a Londoner.

Verses from our best-loved authors, such as William Wordsworth, William Blake and John Betjeman among others, are accompanied by beautiful illustrations – often taken from iconic tube posters – of London’s famous sights, green parks and Londoners in their daily lives.

Epic poems celebrating London’s vast and majestic presence sit alongside Cockney ditties about pie, mash and jellied eels in this new collection. Celebrating every aspect of ‘the big smoke’ – from the Houses of Parliament and the Blitz spirit, through to red double-decker buses and infamous rainy English summers – this is the perfect gift for any Londoner or visitor to the city.

An engaging and witty puzzle book for science fans all over the world.

The Astounding Science Puzzle Book features a series of mini quizzes of 10–15 questions on quirky topics, including ‘Marvellous maths and peculiar patterns’, ‘Wonderful wordplay’ and ‘Wonders and fragilities of the body’. This handsome book makes exploring maths, physics, chemistry and biology exciting and challenging, and is perfect for any quiz lover. The trivia is based on science but also extends to popular culture, history and language – with Nobel Prize winners alongside Elvis Presley, and the moons of Mars alongside Jurassic Park.

The book is interweaved with puzzles, including witty anagrams, logic puzzles, crosswords, dingbats and other illustrated puzzles. Aspiring code-breakers should keep their eyes peeled for hidden puzzles as well. From the Big Bang to Beatles lyrics – this book is perfect for any trivia lover.

A classic Batsford poetry collection, now reissued with a stunning new cover.

A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year is a glorious collection of 366 poems that celebrate nature and the changing seasons. It is the perfect morning companion for any nature or poetry enthusiast, featuring famous odes from big-name poets alongside unsung poems from less well-known writers.

Each poem is chosen to chime with the natural world through the seasons. Spring is a time of hope, a season of new life accompanied by William Wordsworth’s famous daffodils, John Clare’s lambs and Christina Rossetti’s birdsong. Summer shifts into a time of leisure, with long, idyllic holidays in the countryside: according to Henry James, the two most beautiful words in the English Language were ‘summer afternoon’, a sentiment echoed by Edward Thomas and Emily Dickinson. John Keats, William Blake and W. H. Auden are the poets we associate with autumn, with the natural world, and the human one, holding onto the last lingering memories of summer before they turn to face the oncoming hardships of winter. Amy Lowell and George Meredith perfectly frame this time of year, with their silver-fringed leaves and crimson berries. Winter can be savoured in poetry, rather than endured; bleak grey days are transformed into a world of glittering frost and snow-blanketed landscapes. Even in the darkest days life continues, and soon we can turn our attention to the rebirth of spring.

A wonderful collection of poems that help mark the daily turn of the seasons and all the rituals marking the significant moments of the year, from Candlemas to Christmas.

Getting around York on foot is easy and fun. Walking gives you the chance to explore York’s secret corners, layered history, ancient streets and hidden gardens. With illustrated maps and photos, Walk York guides you through ten routes (from one to six miles long, 1.5km to 10km) and more suggestions, from a simple stroll round the city walls to a hike round Castle Howard; walk beside the city’s rivers or pub crawl round the bars. Discover Roman York or the city built on chocolate, the haunted highways or the streets straight out of Harry Potter. Find the city’s must-see icons, hidden treasures and lucky cat sculptures; with optional visits to famous visitor attractions like JORVIK Viking centre or the National Rail Museum, these walks can fit the time you have and appeal to all tastes and ages.

At the darkest moment of the year, when the nights seem endless and the days very short, comes that most joyful of festivals. Christmas is a truly magical season, bringing families and friends together to share the much-loved customs and traditions that over the centuries have come to surround this heart-warming and deeply symbolic occasion. Each family has their own personal traditions, and ways they celebrate the special day. Yet underneath the tinsel, fairy lights and wrapping paper are many long-standing traditions that we all know and love.

Why do we drag a fir tree inside our house and decorate it? How long Santa has been delivering gifts to good children? What would Christmas be like without mince pies?

We owe a lot to the Victorians. They transformed the way Britain celebrated Christmas in the 19th century and we continue with their traditions today. In 1848 a British confectioner by the name of Tom Smith came up with the idea of wrapping sweets inside a package that snapped when pulled apart. It was the Victorians that really centred Christmas round the family, with the eating of a Christmas dinner together, giving gifts and playing games. All these things have become central to a British Christmas Day.

Pomp, pageantry, power and prestige are just a few of the words to sum up the history and vibrancy of the City of London.

Beyond its fame as the financial heart of London, this new guidebook explores the Square Mile of London revealing the secrets hidden in its rich treasure trove. Neither square nor a square mile, the City of London seems to lie beyond the limits of logic.

From St Paul’s, Wren’s Masterpiece to the Barbican, Europe’s largest centre for Arts, the City of London is a compelling blend of diverse visitor attractions waiting to be explored. Whether you pop into the Old Bailey, the scene of many a courtroom drama, amble through Lincoln Inn Fields or drool over the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London there is never a dull moment in the City…

Learn why the Bank of England is known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street and the importance of Mansion House, home to the Right Honorable The Lord Mayor of London and looks at the traditions behind the Lord Mayor’s Show.

There is much published on chess tactics, strategy, openings and endings, but little on how to come up with imaginative solutions through logical thinking and evaluation. This book is dedicated to that task and provides over 700 ‘fresh’ positions, incorporating a variety of schemes of thought for the reader to solve. The examples emphasise the power of logical and resourceful thinking, quick wit and imagination. In each chapter the author presents little-explored concepts, such as progressive and reciprocal thinking, to help the reader achieve decisive results and to make fewer mistakes in calculation.

The material has been accumulated by the author over many years as a trainer and will be of great benefit to competitive players seeking to improve their methods of thinking.

An International Master’s guide to the essential positions and strategies in chess.

A great little book of understanding the most important chess positions in the opening of a game, the middle game and the endgame. It cuts to the chase on the most useful positions at all those stages. Perfect for players who want to reach a higher level but don’t have time to sit for hours and hours each week in less productive study.

Divided into three sections, it comprises section 1, The 50 Most Important Openings (covering 50 openings), section 2. The 150 Most important Middle Game Positions and section 3. The 100 Most important Endgame Positions. For example, the Endgame section has chapters on pawn endings, knightt endings, etc. The Middle game chapters are arranged by positional themes.

Each numbered position can be seen as a test yourself quiz (with answers given below the diagrams) to help cement positional understanding. Since it is advisable to repeat the positions from time to time this book can be your life-long companion, enabling you to dramatically increase your positional chess understanding.

An essential strategy book by a Swedish International Master.

Following on from the long success of one of the most important chess books ever written, Bobby Fischer: My 60 Memorable Games, renowned chess writer Andrew Soltis delivers a book on today’s blockbuster chess player Magnus Carlsen.

Magnus Carlsen has been the world’s number one player for more than a decade, has won more super-tournaments than anyone ever and is still in his prime. He is the only player to repeatedly win the world championships in classical, speed and blitz chess formats. This book details his remarkable rise and how he acquired the crucial skills of 21st-century grandmaster chess

He will defend his world championship title this autumn and if he wins, it will set a record of five championship match victories. This book take you through how he wins by analysing 60 of the games that made him who he is, describing the intricacies behind his and his opponent’s strategies, the tactical justification of moves and the psychological battle in each one.

An evocative exploration of how travel – local and far away – can inform, inspire and enhance textile art.

Travel has always featured heavily in textile art, from artists’ ‘travelling sketchbooks’ to large-scale installations mapping coastal erosion or the effects of climate change. In this book, renowned textile artist Anne Kelly shows how to capture your travels, past and present, in stitch, with practical techniques sitting alongside inspiring images.

She begins the book by discussing maps in textile art, including their iconography as well as incorporating actual maps into textile work. She then goes on to explore the influence of different cultures from across the globe on textile art.

From India and Peru to Scotland and Scandinavia, the book shows how to harness traditional techniques, fabrics, motifs and colours for use in your own work. The chapter ‘Stopping Places’ captures the moments in time on a journey that can be distilled, remembered and documented to create stitched postcards, sketchbooks and other pieces. The final chapter, ‘Space and the Imagination’, explores the possibilities of space travel as a source of inspiration, and covers inner space too, with artists mapping their own emotional journeys.

Including a wealth of practical tricks and techniques as well as exquisite photography of both Anne’s own work and that of other leading textile artists, this fascinating book will inspire all textile artists, embroiderers and makers to use past travels to influence their work.