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The outstanding beauty and distinction of the small towns of Provence have proved irresistibly attractive to visitors from America for the best part of a century. From the hills and mountains of the Alps and the Lubéron to the rich vine-growing country of the Var and the delightful coastal resorts, these communities are special places indeed.
In the small towns one finds the true spirit of Provence. Terracotta roofs cling at strange angles to stone and plaster; deep, velvety shade covers the ground beneath tall plane trees in some peaceful square, enlivened by the sound of water from an ancient fountain. Sometimes calm, sometimes vibrant, but always timelessly appealing, the most beautiful country towns of Provence are presented here in Alex Ramsay's perceptive photographs and Helena Attlee's evocative commentaries.
This magnificently illustrated survey opens in the west of the province, marked by the Roman presence and home to the lively regional centers of Arles and Uzès. In the center of Provence—the départements of Var and Vaucluse—are such attractions as L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, famous for its antique markets, and Hyères, one of the first resorts on the Riviera. Haute-Provence and Maritimes, which sweep around the north of the province and finally descend to the sea in the east, embrace the varied gems of mountainous Saint-Martin-Vésubie, coastal and Italianate Menton, and Grasse, perfume capital of the world. The variety revealed in this visual and textual feast is incredible—and all set in the dramatic contours of one of Europe's most striking landscapes.
Like other volumes in this internationally best-selling series, The Most Beautiful Country Towns of Provence is completed by lists of sights to visit and places to stay and to eat. 260 color photographs.
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The beauty of Provence is captured in this book!
If you, like me, cannot afford to travel to the south of France, this large-format book is the next best thing!!! Its stunning photography will really enchant you and leave you with a sense of regret that you cannot be there now, at this exact moment. Looking at the beautiful pictures of old but graceful buildings, narrow streets and dramatic landscapes you can almost sense certain serenity permeating those ageless country towns of Provence, endlessly basking in the golden rays of sun... Aaah, Provence....
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"There is nothing out there." Such is the claim, at least, of politicians and oil company executives, amazed that anyone would fight to protect the miles of plateaus and canyon bottoms that stretch across southern Utah. Even tourists see this region as an empty spot on the map—an excuse to drive directly from Capitol Reef to Arches National Park. But it is precisely this—nothing—that writer Brooke Williams and photographer Chris Noble find captivating about Escalante. In this thoughtful and exquisitely illustrated rumination, the authors tour the network of chasms and gorges that began forming millions of years ago on the Colorado Plateau and today constitute a desert paradise of mesas, buttes, and boundless solitude. At the center of this landscape is the region known as Escalante, 1.7 million mostly roadless acres, where silence, darkness, and emptiness have no intrusions. With refreshing originality and a haunting rhythm to his prose, Williams reflects on the notion of space and seclusion both internally and externally. Williams also celebrates the landscape: its geology, flora and fauna, its people from the ancient Fremont to its Mormon pioneers, hiking aficionados and recluses such as Everett Ruess, and the controversial politics involved with the creation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Chris Noble's photographs break down the distinction often felt even in very fine photos, that between the observer and the place. These images pull the reader into the landscape, seamlessly merging the experience and the setting. Part narrative, part poetry, and part meditation, this book charts the quiet places where the human spirit delights in solitude. It reminds us of our intimate connection with the wild and of the landscape's powerful pulse especially when there is nothing to be found.
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"There are several very good guidebooks to the trails of Yellowstone. This one is great. It is the most accessible to the novice Yellowstone hiker, and the most useful for knowledgeable trekkers. –
Tim Cahill, author of
Lost in My Own Backyard: A Walk in Yellowstone Park,
Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, and
Hold the EnlightenmentHike, Backpack, Horseback
Whatever you're looking for, there's a trail for you in Yellowstone and the Tetons. Make the most of a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks by exploring the absolute best trails that the parks have to offer. The latest in the Top Trails series covers the most exciting dayhikes and overnight/backcountry trips in these two popular parks, from the roaring geysers of Yellowstone to the singular mountain scenery of Grand Teton. Top Trails Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks covers every corner of Yellowstone, including the Mammoth, Tower, Canyon, and Lake regions, and Old Faithful, plus Bechler and the Cascade Corner, as well as the premier trails throughout Grand Teton National Park.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks offer the ultimate in natural and geothermal wonders: untouched backcountry lakes, panoramic alpine summits. glacier-carved canyons, steaming geyser basins, and vast meadows teeming with charismatic wildlife.
With 45 "must-do" hikes from Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, from the Absarokas to the Gallatin Range, and from Jackson Hole to the Teton Crest Trail, this is your guide.
Whether you’re a lucky year-round resident or a happy visitor for a day, week, or an entire season, in this guide you will find: "Don’t get lost" trail milestones, innovative trail-feature tables and elevation profiles, a detailed map of every trail and region, and detailed driving directions to every trailhead.
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A cable-car silhouette stands against the lingering brilliance of the setting sun, the Golden Gate Bridge is aswirl in fog as dawn creeps over the bay. Victorian houses on Alamo Square, drenched in color, compete for attention, and stacks of steaming crabs await the tourists on Fisherman's Wharf. Throughout his career, Santi Visalli has beautifully captured the warmth and spirit of San Francisco, illustrated here in more than 95 photographs. An updated edition of the bestselling book of the same name, San Francisco celebrates the city that continues to enchant visitors with its stunning topography, rich diversity, and eclectic architecture.
Visalli has explored the Financial District, its skyline punctuated with skyscrapers such as the Transamerica Building; Chinatown, where East meets West in a medley of pagodas, antique stores, and exotic foods; historical San Francisco, with its nineteenth-century Victorian homes and refurbished developments, including the Cannery and Ghiradelli Square; and beautiful Golden Gate Park, with its famous Japanese gardens and magnificent conservatory. Seaside cliffs, zigzag streets, intimate restaurants, public gardens, and numerous cultural institutions--Visalli has photographed them all in varying light and weather for visitors and natives alike.
An essential seaport, San Francisco has become a world city, despite its small size and population. A crossroads between America and the East, it is a city of diverse cultures, peoples, and lifestyles. In this volume Santi Visalli brings together the historical and topical, creating a lasting tribute to this pearl of the Pacific Rim, San Francisco.
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Clusters of white cottages huddled in a fold between hills of an unbelievably rich green . . . villages of a single street, dazzling in their array of color washes and picturesque shop and bar signs. . . . Such are the villages of Ireland, the most beautiful of which are captured in Hugh Palmer's evocative photographs and Christopher Fitz-Simon's sensitive commentaries. Beautiful though many of the villages of Ireland undoubtedly are, they are also working, living communities. The vibrancy and warmth in a village bar or local shop proclaim a culture not yet submerged under mass tourism or the rash of vacation homes that have blighted so many of Europe's prettiest villages and robbed them of traditional ways. Following the divisions of the ancient provinces--Ulster, Leinster, Connacht, and Munster--the journey is full of fascinating rural gems, some famous and others less well known. There are the coastal villages of Cork with their handsome houses of many hues sloping down to a sea that so many Irish crossed to found other communities in the United States. Roscommon and Galway are proud of their medieval churches, while Ulster villages look toward the Atlantic and seem to be girding themselves against the rigors of the northern climate. Literary and historical associations abound, as in Ardagh, site of pre-Christian settlement and the place where Oliver Goldsmith was inspired to write
She Stoops to Conquer. The latest volume in the best-selling
Most Beautiful Villages series, this extraordinary visual and verbal record of the Irish village is completed by a guide to the most important sites, markets, hotels, and restaurants. 258 color photographs.
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An inspiring exploration of the forty most memorable travel destinations in the world.
As travelers become more experienced and sophisticated, they become more discriminating about their destinations. Many are seeking the unusual and avoiding the routine and predictable tours.
Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die takes readers to familiar places, like the Taj Mahal, and lesser known destinations like Lalibela, Ethopia. Three hundred magnificent photographs accompany fascinating essays about each location.
The chapters cover forty destinations ranging from New York City to Petra, Jordan, including: - Australia's Great Barrier Reef - Cambodian temples at Angkor Wat - Scotland's Eilean Donan Castle - Thailand's Grand Palace - Mexico's Pyramid of Kukulacán - Peru's Machu Picchu - Spain's Alhambra - Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.
The book features international destinations for extraordinary scenery, ancient monuments, unusual cultures, rare wildlife, soaring architecture, art and more. The sites range from wilderness areas to cities to uninhabited locations and ruins of past civilizations.
Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die is aimed at adventurous travelers seeking new sights and experiences. It offers insider tips and practical advice for maximizing the enjoyment of each visit such as avoiding crowds, best time of the year to visit and more.
With gorgeous photography, this book is a must for international and armchair travelers.
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Ok at Amazon's price
The photography in this book matches the high standards set by similar books; although a couple of photographs of Petra were particularly good.
The information wasn't terribly important to me: if I really want information about Machu Picchu, for instance, there are several books filled with great information on that topic. But if you really don't know anything about Machu Picchu, this book will give you a bare idea of it.
My top 40 places would be different of course, and so would everyone else's. For instance, number one on my list would be Jerusalem, and number three would be Istanbul: neither got in here. Well, that's his perogative and I can't dis the book over it.
Some selections did surprise me. For instance, Shanghai is listed, but Xian isn't. I think most people would reverse that. Of all the great places in India, of course Varanasi (my number 2) and the Taj Mahal appear, and then the Jaisalmer Fort. Well, that's a reasonable choice, but I would have strongly preferred Mumbai or Amritsar.
Anyway, the real problem is choosing 40, rather than 80 or so. The world's a big, wonderful, interesting place after all. No mention here of the Amazon or the Congo, of Meteora or Mashhad, and so on.
The real reason that I bought this book is to inspire my girlfriend to travel with me: I think we all have that kind of thing in mind. For that, it'll do.
There are some other books that I'd recommend checking out before you spend your money. For instance, "The Spirit of Asia" by Michael Freeman is excellent for that part of the world; and Joe Cumming's book "Buddhist Stupas in Asia" will inspire a lot of travel throughout Asia. I own those two books, but a few others also look very good to me: "Sacred Places Around the World," "100 Things to do Before You Die," "The Travel Book," and, for pure photography, books by Art Wolfe or Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
Amid such company, I feel that this book is fine, and I don't regret buying it at all. But it's not exceptional in any regard, so I give it 4 stars. At Amazon's price ($13.50 as I write this), it is certainly a good deal, as some of the books I prefer are more expensive.
Great travel spots
I liked this layout. Great photos with 3 or 4 pages on each site. Just enough information to see if you really want to travel there. The best news was I have visted 8 of the 40 sites the author lists. This is good bet if you ever wanted a list to mark off of great places to go see, this is starting point.
Inspirational
I was given this book recently and have to say it is probably the most inspirational travel book I have seen for many years. As a founder of an adventure travel company (Intrepid Travel) I see many books of this ilk - but this is altogether different and better. The pictures are fantastic and the copy very rreadable. It looks at 40 destinatiions - some mainstream, some off the beaten track. It makes you want to travel!
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Daring, bold, dramatic, towering, impossibly glamorous: this is how we imagine New York in its golden age, and this is how Samuel H. Gottscho, the preeminent architectural photographer of his generation, captured it. Through his lens, New York of the 1930s became the quintessential modern metropolis, a round-the-clock city in which night was as charismatic as day. Rigorously editing out the Depression-weary city's more seamy aspects-its tenement slums, breadlines, and soup kitchens-Gottscho presented a dreamlike Gotham of skyscrapers and penthouse luxury that literally and figuratively glowed with glamour's sheen. His gimlet eye focused on the bold interplay of sun and shadow, dramatizing the chiseled forms of Manhattan's signature skyline and bridges. The Empire State and Chrysler buildings, Rockefeller Center, the Plaza, the George Washington Bridge-Gottscho brought them all to sparkling life. In this beautifully produced, landmark book, historian Donald Albrecht presents 175 of Gottscho's extraordinary images of the city, from the Battery to Harlem. An introductory essay tells the story of this legendary photographer, describing his working methods and philosophy, while placing his work in the broader context of photographic history. The exhibition The Mythic City will open at the Museum of the City of New York in the fall of 2005. Published in association with the Museum of the City of New York.
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ANTARCTICA is a masterpiece said by many to be the most exquisite photography book created in modern times. Enhanced by antique book-binding traditions and sumptuous, archival materials, this objet d'art has received 19 international awards for excellence and craftsmanship - more than any other modern book. These awards include: World's Best Photography Book; Gold Ink Award - Fine Edition Books; Outstanding Book of the Year - Best Bookarts Craftsmanship; Benjamin Franklin Award (World's best printing); Art Craft Science Award etc. Ten years of intensive effort have culminated in the release of just 950 books and 50 proofs – a true limited-edition. ANTARCTICA has already been acquired by private collectors, institutions, and rare book libraries on five continents.
ANTARCTICA is forever limited to this one, exclusive edition. There will never be a reprint, a cloth-bound or paperback version. The original printing plates have been shredded and then melted.
Each tome is individually numbered in calligraphy and signed by creators Pat and Rosemarie Keough. H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan has also autographed each tome to verify that all net proceeds will benefit the "Save the Albatross" campaign. HRH Prince Charles hosted the official unveiling of ANTARCTICA.
The 336 pages include 345 images by photographers Pat and Rosemarie Keough. Experts in polar research and art have stated that there is not another published portfolio of Antarctica to equal that of the Keoughs. The International Photography Awards committee honoured the Keoughs with the award "Nature Photographer of the Year" for their imagery in ANTARCTICA. Each image has been superbly reproduced on luxurious, heavy paper using light-fast pigments and the world's highest resolution lithography.
The tome's weight, at 27.6 pounds in its presentation box, is similar to that of a two-year-old child. The dimensions of the book are 17.25" x 13.5" x 2.5".
All books are sewn and bound entirely by hand in full morocco, a fine-grained goat leather, using book-binding artistry that dates to 15th-century Venice. ANTARCTICA is the first volume to successfully marry the grace of the "classic European" style of fine handing together with the rugged strength and durability of the "split-board" construction techniques. This means that the binding of this incredibly strong yet elegant book cannot be damaged except by purposeful effort! Each copy is presented in a sturdy linen and velvet archival box.
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Photographer August Sander's great gift to the world is his collection of portraits documenting German society in the early decades of the 20th century. His sitters are anonymous, described simply by their occupation, with the stories of their lives, hard or soft, written on their faces. Drawn from all ranks of society, they look at us with a directness and honesty that reflect those of the man behind the camera. There is little artifice in their settings; Sander captures the essence of his subject's character through a neutral but sympathetic simplicity of vision. Calling his portfolio
People of the Twentieth Century, Sander builds a picture of the Germany of his day that is at the same time both an artistic and sociological study. The calmness and humanity of his photographs contrast starkly with the violence of his times; though his work is pointedly apolitical, portrait titles such as
Victim of Persecution, Cologne, 1938 suggest the hysteria that was overtaking contemporary Europe. Printed in Italy, this study presents a trilingual essay and 168 high-quality reproductions of Sander's work. Complementing the portraits are powerful landscape compositions of idyllic countryside and bombed-out ruins. The book is a fine introduction to the work of a pioneer who refined portraiture to its essence, changing the way photography was regarded in Germany and the world.
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This remarkable volume is the most comprehensive examination to date of the art and architecture of European monasteries, featuring an authoritative text and more than five hundred stunning, full-color photographs.
European cultural history is inextricably linked to the presence of monasteries, especially during the Middle Ages. In addition to serving as religious refuges, monasteries provided sanctuary for the pursuits of art, education, science, and book production. This lavishly illustrated book traces the development of the art and architecture of these important buildings, from early Carolingian examples in the eighth century to a modern structure by Le Corbusier in 1960.
This unsurpassed survey offers a fresh chronicle of a largely overlooked subject and hundreds of marvelous images, many of them newly photographed, of more than 150 of the most interesting and best preserved monasteries in Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Italy––all of which are accessible to visitors. Here are unique views of the art and architecture of such treasured places as Mont St. Michel, a wondrous Benedictine sanctuary off the coast of Brittany, and the fabled pilgrimage site in Assisi founded by St. Francis.
In an insightful text the author describes the cultural heritage of each of the monasteries portrayed and provides an introduction to monasticism and to the various orders dating from the early Christian era to the present. In addition, the volume offers plans of the sites, a glossary, and a bibliography. Historians and collectors of great books of art history will be intrigued by this unsurpassed collection of photographs and fascinating account of the artistic glory of European monasteries.
Other Details: 550 full-color illustrations
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