Ireland features some of Europe's most significant antiquities, such as its passage tombs, ring forts, castles, Neolithic settlements & monastic sites. This guide explores the mythology & history of the country, as well as including suggestions for the best places to stay, eat & sleep. ...

Carrowkeel Passage Tomb in Sligo is an extensive Neolithic passage tomb undisturbed since its excavation in 1911. Robert Praeger, one of the excavators, described being one of the first to enter the tomb: `I lit three candles & stood awhile, to let my eyes accustom themselves to the dim light. There was everything, just as the last man had left it, three to four thousand years before.` On an isolated hillside, the tomb is in almost the same undisturbed condition today. Ireland is rich in such monuments. Tarquin Blake & Fiona Reilly explore & document over 140 historic sites across the thirty-two counties. These range from megalithic tombs & round towers to monasteries & castles, as well as the more recent Martello towers & windmills. An engrossing catalogue of remarkable heritage sites is revealed. Each site, from Brian Boru`s Fort in County Clare to Moyne Friary in County Mayo, has an intriguing past & is illustrated with Blake`s trademark photographs. ...

Jordan in the Handbooks series from Footprint; comprehensive & leading guides designed & written for independent travellers who enjoy exploring off the beaten track. Footprint guides have an established reputation, built up since 1921, for catering for more adventurous & individual travellers. An unrestrictive editorial style also gives authors the freedom to capture & explore local cultures, sights & areas that are often not covered in other guides. Widely recognised for their reliability & independent writing style, Footprint guides all have the same layout. Introductory sections introduce the reader to the destination, with chapters on planning on your trip & essentials, including practical information & guidance on subjects such as when & where to go, itineraries, sport & activities, arts, getting there & around, eating & drinks, sleeping & a dedicated section on the anticipated carbon footprint involved in travelling to the destination. Each guide is organised geographically by region or country, with individual sections having a particular focus on an extensive range of sights & places of interest. Further, there are also details of accommodation, nightlife, restaurants & any notable local activities. Information boxes throughout the text give readers an insight into local customs, stories & sights of particular interest.A ‘ Background’ section explores the history, economy, government, education, culture, people, land & environment of the destination in significant depth. There is also a ‘ Footnotes’ chapter with a basic language guide for travellers & information about the author. A useful distance chart tailored to the destination is also included in the inside back cover. * Please note:* the series is gradually being revised, reverting to its previous style of ” Handbooks”, published in a hardback format. ...

Ancient Luang Prabang is an illustrated book focusing on the sacred architecture & art to be found in this mist-shrouded mountain town of northern Laos; combining over 315 colour photographs, 63 black & white archive images, as well as 26 temple plans & architectural drawings. Not only is Luang Prabang home to a treasure trove of 33 gilded & frescoed wooden Buddhist temples dating from the seventeenth century, it is also a place where native religious architecture fuses with secular, colonial French buildings from the nineteenth century. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site & is considered the best preserved town in Southeast Asia. ...

In 1757, when twelve-year-old Samuel Hearne joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice to the famous fighting captain Samuel Hood, he was embarking on a life of high adventure. This young sailor would become the first European to reach the Arctic coast of North America, the author of a classic work of exploration literature, & the man who inspired one of the greatest poems in the English language. Yet, for over two centuries, Hearne's place in history has been a subject of dispute. In ANCIENT MARINER, Ken Mc Googan paints a vivid portrait of life in the eighteenth century, from London through to the farthest reaches of North America. After serving as a midshipman during the Seven Years War, Hearne joined the Hudson's Bay Company & was posted to the Arctic coast. From there he embarked on an overland quest for a fabled copper mine
- also hoping to discover the Northwest Passage. In his epic account, A JOURNEY TO THE NORTHERN OCEAN, Hearne described this trek, marked by hardship, near-starvation & culture shock. Joining forces with the legendary Dene leader Matonabbee, & closely observing the people, wildlife & terrain as he went, Hearne travelled more than 3, 500 miles, mostly on foot. His journey culminated in the infamous massacre at ' Bloody Falls' at the mouth of the Coppermine River
- an event, Mc Googan suggests, that changed him for ever. In a fascinating piece of literary detective work, Mc Googan also determines that, having returned to London to live out his final days, Hearne met Samuel Taylor Coleridge & inspired the poet to write his classic poem, THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER.

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Brochs, cairns, standing stones, stone circles & rock art are all part of Scotland's Neolithic heritage, but apart from academic tomes & local publications, little is available for the amateur historian & visitor to Scotland to give them an overall picture of these national treasures. Loren Cruden's map of Scotland's ancient monuments now addresses this &

Includes:: over 200 sites of interest, all of which can be visited & are easily accessed. These include the Glenelg brochs, the standing stones of Arran, Maes Howe, Kilmartin, Calanais & Achnabreck with many, many more across the length & breadth of Scotl&. Each site is detailed by the use of a unique motif or combined motifs that give clear indications of the type of site & its location. Full OS map references are on the rear of the map along with brief narratives of the types of monument

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England has more ancient native oak trees than the rest of Europe combined. How did that come about? The reasons are all historical, & nothing to do with climate or soil factors. This story goes back to the Norman conquest of England in 1066. They created Royal Forests, chases & deer parks, where only the nobility could hunt or keep deer & it was forbidden to cut the trees. This was, if you like, an early form of nature conservation, but for the sake of privileged hunting. Preservation of these oaks further continued through a combination of private ownership of thousands of parks, conservatism of the landowners, overseas timber availability & the absence of ruining wars on the English landscape; the majority of which had been confined to the continent. Modernisation of forestry in England only took hold after 1920, & by that stage too late to destroy all of the old & worthless hollow trees. In contrast, modern forestry was introduced on the continent at least 200 years earlier, with devastating results for ancient trees. We owe the ancient oaks to all these circumstances which created a unique `population` of ancient oaks, highly important for biodiversity & an asset unique to Engl&. In this book Aljos Farjon combines history with science & tells the story of how ancient oaks have shaped the English landscape over the past 1000 years. The two native species of oak, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) & sessile oak (Q. petraea) are among the longest living trees in Engl&. & using data made available by `citizen science` (data gathered by volunteers across the country) Aljos explains this remarkable situation by giving detailed evidence, enhanced with beautiful images of these stunning oaks as well as graphs & maps. ...

In this revised & all-colour edition of her indispensable guide to the ancient Games, Judith Swaddling traces their mythological & religious origins, & describes the events, the sacred ceremony & the celebrations that were an essential part of the Olympic festival. A large, detailed model based on modern research & excavation reconstructs the site of ancient Olympia, where alongside religious & civic buildings there grew an elaborate sports complex with a stadium for 40, 000 spectators, indoor & outdoor training facilities, hot & cold baths, a swimming pool & a race-course. Later chapters cover the diet & medical treatment of athletes, sponsorship, patronage, propaganda & revivals of the Games & a brand new chapter, based on the latest research discusses the literary sources for the Olympic Games. The expanded final chapter on the modern Games is written in collaboration with Stewart Binns, an expert in this field who has worked closely with the International Olympic Committee over many years, & has been revised to bring the story up to the preparations for the London 2012 Games. Illustrated with gorgeous, full-colour photography & covering thousands of years of Olympic history, this fascinating book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Olympic Games. ...

Burma/ Mayanmar has opened up to tourism in the last year or two & record numbers are now visiting this beautiful, mesmerising country. All visitors to Burma will visit the ancient kingdom of Pagan (now called Bagan), along with the Inle lake, it is the most visited place in Burma & captures the heart & imagination of all who see the sun set on this beguiling landscape of temples & stupas. Pagan is the largest & most resplendent centre of Buddhist art in the ancient world. Construction in the city peaked between the 11th & 13th centuries when over 2, 000 temples, monasteries & stupas were created along the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy. Local architects mastered complex brick vaulting techniques unrivalled in Asia, while mural painters & stone carvers fashioned a distinctive style of Burmese art. The pace of building slowed dramatically after the capital shifted to the Mandalay area in the mid-14th century, but the city never lost its special religious & cultural significance, furnishing a field of merit to Buddhists old & new. Burma, now known as Myanmar, was terra incognita for many decades, but the lifting of travel restrictions has made this temple city now accessible. ...

” Ancient Perspectives” encompasses a vast arc of space & time
- Western Asia to North Africa & Europe from the third millennium
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