With a freshness & breadth of approach that sets the art in its context, this book explores why works were created & who commissioned the palaces, cathedrals, paintings, & sculptures. It covers Rome & Florence, Venice & the Veneto, Assisi, Siena, Milan, Pavia, Genoa, Padua, Mantua, Verona, Ferrara, Urbino, & Naples. Chapters are grouped into four chronological parts, allowing for a sustained examination of individual cities in different periods. Contemporary Scene boxes provide fascinating glimpses of daily life & Contemporary Voice boxes"e from painters & writers of the time. Innovative & scholarly, yet accessible & beautifully presented, this book is a definitive work on the Italian Renaissance. ...

London. A snowy December, 1888. Sherlock Holmes, 34, is languishing & back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Watson can neither comfort nor rouse his friend
- until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris. Mlle La Victoire, a beautiful French cabaret star writes that her illegitimate son by an English lord has disappeared, & she has been attacked in the streets of Montmartre. Racing to Paris with Watson at his side, Holmes discovers the missing child is only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem. The most valuable statue since the Winged Victory has been violently stolen in Marseilles, & several children from a silk mill in Lancashire have been found murdered. The clues in all three cases point to a single, untouchable man. Will Holmes recover in time to find the missing boy & stop a rising tide of murders? To do so he must stay one step ahead of a dangerous French rival & the threatening interference of his own brother, Mycroft. This latest adventure, in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, sends the iconic duo from London to Paris & the icy wilds of Lancashire in a case which tests Watson`s friendship & the fragility & gifts of Sherlock Holmes` own artistic nature to the limits.
...

London. A snowy December, 1888. Sherlock Holmes, 34, is languishing & back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Watson can neither comfort nor rouse his friend
- until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris. Mlle La Victoire, a beautiful French cabaret star writes that her illegitimate son by an English lord has disappeared, & she has been attacked in the streets of Montmartre. Racing to Paris with Watson at his side, Holmes discovers the missing child is only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem. The most valuable statue since the Winged Victory has been violently stolen in Marseilles, & several children from a silk mill in Lancashire have been found murdered. The clues in all three cases point to a single, untouchable man. Will Holmes recover in time to find the missing boy & stop a rising tide of murders? To do so he must stay one step ahead of a dangerous French rival & the threatening interference of his own brother, Mycroft. This latest adventure, in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, sends the iconic duo from London to Paris & the icy wilds of Lancashire in a case which tests Watson`s friendship & the fragility & gifts of Sherlock Holmes` own artistic nature to the limits.
...

Following on from the massive success of Passion Journals, Moleskine introduces a personal Art journal to record notes of art exhibitions, museums & previews as well as personal impressions & inspirations. With a glossy black debossing & a double expandable inner pocket the Art journal has five themed sections & five tabbed sections to personalise. It features a timeline of art history & a calendar for exhibitions & blank pages for personal thoughts & comes with three bookmark ribbons & 202 adhesive labels to personalise the journal. ...

London & Paris are the first two titles in a unique new series of city guides focusing on modern & contemporary art
- a genuine
...

This extraordinary publication presents, for the first time, the Samurai armour collection of the Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum in Dallas, Texas. The Barbier-Mueller has selectively amassed these pieces of armour over the past twenty-five years, ultimately forming one of the largest & most important collections of its kind in the world. It is comprised of nearly three hundred objects, several of which are considered masterpieces, including suits of armour, helmets, masks, horse armour, & weaponry. The objects date from the 12th to the 19th century, with a particularly strong focus on Edo-period armour. Offering an exciting look into the world of the Samurai warrior, this book begins with an introduction by Morihiro Ogawa. Essays by prominent scholars in the field highlight topics such as the phenomenon of the warrior in Japan, the development of the Samurai helmet, castle architecture, women in Samurai culture, & Japanese horse armour. The book's final section consists of an extensive catalogue of objects, concentrating on 120 significant works in the collection. Lavishly illustrated in full colour, each object is accompanied by an entry written by a scholar of Japanese armour. ...

As an Anglican priest & former Priest-in-Ordinary to the Queen, a lecturer in Buddhism, & a devoted walker, Adam Ford is an inspiring guide with a refreshingly eclectic viewpoint. Contemplating the concept of a purposeful walking, he applies the notion of mindfulness to walks ranging from a simple journey to work to a personal odyssey in the Australian outback. Exploring the idea of the walk as both medium & metaphor, & considering ideas of pilgrimage alongside the notion of the walk in literature, he draws on his personal experience of both spirituality & walking. This book celebrates & enchances those moments: both for the hardened hiker & those who like to contemplate past walks from the comfort of their armchair. ...

As an Anglican priest & former Priest-in-Ordinary to the Queen, a lecturer in Buddhism, & a devoted walker, Adam Ford is an inspiring guide with a refreshingly eclectic viewpoint. Contemplating the concept of a purposeful walking, he applies the notion of mindfulness to walks ranging from a simple journey to work to a personal odyssey in the Australian outback. Exploring the idea of the walk as both medium & metaphor, & considering ideas of pilgrimage alongside the notion of the walk in literature, he draws on his personal experience of both spirituality & walking. This book celebrates & enchances those moments: both for the hardened hiker & those who like to contemplate past walks from the comfort of their armchair. ...

Immigrant Scandinavian gold miners chasing the Gold Rush in the middle of the nineteenth century introduced skiing to the United States. By the turn of the twentieth century, skiing had emerged from its utilitarian origins to become a fashionable sport in both Europe & North America, & a wave of new, stylish resorts emerged. By the 1930s, skiing was by far the most popular winter pastime for the rich & famous
- combining adventure, fashion & exclusivity. The graphic art of the posters advertising this burgeoning sport have become collectors' items. The Art of Skiing is a beautiful collection of the finest examples of poster art. Organised by country & resort, it uses posters from the Beekley Collection
- the largest private collection of ski art in the world
- to reflect the changing trends in skiing fashion & technique, & investigates the most popular resorts, their establishment & development.


...

An incredible visual insight into one of the most eagerly anticipated films of 2011. In autumn 2011 Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson are teaming up to launch The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. The first of two movies being produced, this film will bring to life the enormously popular books by Herge in performance-captured, 3D form. Starring Jamie Bell (of Billy Elliot fame) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, & Daniel Craig as the nefarious Red Rackham, this will be the film of Christmas 2011. Published alongside the groundbreaking film, this book will reveal the incredible creative design process behind it. The conceptual design & visual effects for the movie are being created by Weta, the multi Academy Award winning company behind blockbusters such as Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, District 9, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia & many others. The designs for the book will be put together by the very same Weta artists, giving the readers a true inside story on the how the original comics were transformed into the final look on the big screen. ...