From the collection of an Italian banker whose work financed infrastructure such as railways, mines, electric power stations and shipping companies in the Near East.
Chinoiserie in all its forms - wallpapers, laquers, furniture, porcelain: this book is of course completely delightful. The author wrote his doctoral thesis on the subject and is also an art... read more
A biography of the Hungarian scientist who created the first ever programmable digital computer, and whose colleagues thought his brain was too inexplicably powerful to be entirely human.
Myth and magic surround a girl brought up on an island - but who is she? Will she remember and be able to return whence she came? A third adventure for Aarti; the first two have been greatl... read more
Illustrated with 300 paintings from the State Tretyakov Gallery Moscow and the Albertinum of the State Art Collections Dresden, this is a fine book on the C19th artists who dreamed of freedo... read more
Summer, 1865: Dostoevsky was stuck in a Wiesbaden hotel, ill and unable to pay. Combining aspects of his own fix with the story of a notorious Parisian murderer, he wrote a novel that made h... read more
A rich and original account of how the known (Vanessa Bell, Gwen John) and many lesser known artists expressed themselves through their gorgeous vases of flowers, bowls of fruit etc.
Blackwell is a remarkable artist who creates astonishing tableaux made of cut-out paper; many of her subjects are taken from fairy tales and she often works with the pages of old books. This... read more
Boelsums is an extraordinary visual artist and this is one of the most remarkable photographic books to have come our way. Tramping through any amount of Dutch rain, wind and weather - arduo... read more
Wolf set the works of thirty-six poets to music. Here the genial professor of lieder at the Royal College of Music translates the poems, introduces the poets and Wolf's connections with them... read more
A short but extremely useful guide to help those without prior knowledge of classical music discover ways into wonders that can seem intimidating or closed.
Architecture, landscape, collections, books, food and wine - with contributions by Jon Meacham, Alice Waters, Jay McInerney, Annette Gordon-Reed, Xavier Salomon and others.
The Cleverley family is graced with fame and fortune, but disaster in their media world is just a tweet away... This satire on social media and today's culture wars will make you ROFL. A li... read more
An outstanding evocation of living in London in the late '70s and early '80s, with its curious mix of modernity and grit, analogue but on the cusp of the digital age.
By the gardener who radically changed garden design in the latter part of the C20th by focusing on the achievable and vernacular: low maintenance, beautiful gardens for all, with no need for... read more
Built in 1420-1436, the dome was not painted by Vasari and Zuccari until 1572-1579. This book, with text in English & Italian, presents in detail the entire pictorial cycle.
The last book by the late Italian Titan among writers and publishers is a typically idiosyncratic and compelling exploration of the Bible and its influence on Western civilisation. His broad... read more
A ravishing book that revels in this beautiful white stuff: writer and Arctic traveller Nancy Campbell takes our minds and imaginations on a snowy journey to other cultures, other worlds - I... read more