A superb narrative of the 'underside' of the Italian Renaissance: the Genoese and Neapolitans; the women writers, Jewish merchants, mercenaries, engineers, prostitutes, farmers and citizens ... read more
Not only the art of Rome itself but of its provinces, including Syria, Egypt, Algeria, Greece and the British Isles, showing how Roman art both drew on and influenced the wider ancient world... read more
A companion volume to the stunning Flora of the Silk Road that ravished us all in 2014. A selection of 600 of the most interesting wild flowers native to the Mediterranean and similar clima... read more
Signac was one of the original organizers of the Salon des Independents in 1884 and was its president for nearly 30 years. Impressionists, Fauves, Symbolists, Nabis - like the Hendersons, ... read more
A large format biography of the Bloomsbury pair, and their houses, commissioned by the National Trust. An entertaining introduction with handsome colour pics.
An acclaimed novel by a Georgian who writes in German... at 900 pages it promises loves, lives, and losses through a hundred years on the fringes of the Russian and Soviet empires. We have ... read more
The first work of non-fiction by a very fine novelist ('The Western Wind', 'All is Song', etc) is lit with her characteristic intelligence and clarity of expression. Distilled bleakness.
Most lives are untidy, and mine is no exception... She made herself a success in Fleet Street when journalism was still a very male domain, edited Elizabeth David and inspired the look - if ... read more
A wonderful novel about a group of active, idealistic teenagers. Thirty years later, all have lost their zeal for reform and become famous except for Spike, who remains true to his earlier s... read more
This slim volume came out in the autumn and has been picked up so swiftly each time it arrives in the shop that we've hardly been able to keep it in stock...
A lauded debut novel by a graduate - like her father - of the UEA writing course. She also describes herself as a 'bibliotherapist' because she once was a bookseller in Bath, which raises th... read more
The Bulgarian/Scottish writer explores the mountainous fringe of North Macedonia, Albania and Greece along the via Egnatia (which, astonishingly, joined the via Appia to link Rome with Byzan... read more
The author has been travelling in China for 30 years. This is her first book, and it is a compelling portrait of the country's culture and its recent mutations.
Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land: AL was a philosopher, scientist, ecologist, forester and conservationist, and a professor at the University of Wisconsin. He was the ... read more
A memoir of youth in Henan province and the liberating power of the pen, by a prolific Chinese writer still relatively little known in this country, despite a festoon of international prizes... read more