How to Read Castles is a travel-sized primer that takes a strictly visual approach to castle architecture, building up the reader`s vocabulary of castle types, styles, & materials, & showing how these aspects can be recognized across architectural features from the floor-plan & moat, to the towers & crenulations. Focusing on the period from the 10th to the 16th century, & crusading across the globe from a Welsh motte-&-bailey to a Japanese hirajiro, this is both architectural reference & visitor guide-showing the reader how to read the stories embedded in every castle`s stones. Castles once dominated the landscape as seats of power & symbols of wealth & status, providing a means of control over borders, passes, routes & rivers. Armed with this book you will be able to unpick their histories & see how they shaped the land around them. From rugged coastline defences to soaring mountain fortresses, this book takes the reader on an international journey of discovery, exploring some of the most inspiring & impressive architecture history has ever seen. ...

This handy, easy-to-carry book provides the reader with a strictly visual approach to reading the architecture of churches. Covering all the ecclesiastical building types of Western Christianity, readers are taken on a journey tracing the development of the church building from the simple stone halls of the Anglo-Saxon period right through to the eclectic designs of the nineteenth century. Another addition to the bestselling How to Read series, How to Read Churches is a practical guide, showing readers how to search for architectural clues that tell hidden stories expressing the liturgical function & spiritual symbolism of a church building. The perfect companion to How to Read Buildings. ...

Garden visiting has never been more popular but not many of us understand what we are looking at when strolling through a beautiful garden
- are we looking at an original landscaped sit or a re-creation? Is the planting matter authentic or made up of modern hybrids? Are the steps & terracing in the Italianate style or are they Arts & Crafts? The truth is that most gardens of any age are like a palimpsest: successive generations have changed & influenced the soft & hard fabric of the place over time. Inevitably many of the gardens we wander through today are an amalgam of changing fashions & circumstance. How to Read Gardens provides the reader with all the knowledge he or she needs to tease out the clues that will tell the complete story of a garden`s past. From the grandest estate to the smallest suburban plot, this book will enliven & inform every visit.
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How to Read Houses is an insider`s guide to recognising & appreciating the diversity of domestic architecture that reflects the location, the fashion & the technological savoir-faire of the age
- from Tudor timber-frames to the truly unconventional. Houses are arranged by period & style, including Renaissance, Neoclassical, Arts & Crafts, Modernist & many more besides. Featured houses range from Sutton House in London to Port Sunlight in Merseyside; from St Fagans in Cardiff to Hill House in Glasgow. Compact enough to travel with you, yet comprehensive enough to provide real answers, with real examples, this handy reference guide:
- provides an understanding of the architectural vocabulary along with the visual clues that identify any house style & its historical context
- enhances the appreciation of visits to landmark houses & lays the foundations for an architectural exploration of your own home or area
- explores the main architectural styles, as well as the materials & components of a house through beautifully rendered illustrations, photographs of classic examples & the words of a friendly expert.



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What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret it? Could a nursery rhyme like Baa Baa Black Sheep be full of concealed loathing, resentment, & aggression? In this accessible, delightfully entertaining book, Terry Eagleton addresses these intriguing questions & a host of others. ” How to Read Literature” is the book of choice for students new to the study of literature & for all other readers interested in deepening their understanding & enriching their reading experience. In a series of brilliant analyses, Eagleton shows how to read with due attention to tone, rhythm, texture, syntax, allusion, ambiguity, & other formal aspects of literary works. He also examines broader questions of character, plot, narrative, the creative imagination, the meaning of fictionality, & the tension between what works of literature say & what they show. Unfailingly authoritative & cheerfully opinionated, the author provides useful commentaries on classicism, Romanticism, modernism, & postmodernism along with spellbinding insights into a huge range of authors, from Shakespeare & Jane Austen to Samuel Beckett & J. K. Rowling. ...

How To Read Maps by World Explorers is a great book that will teach children how to read, understand & make maps. With the help of lively, engaging text, colourful imagery, fact boxes & activity suggestions that will introduce children to cartographic terminology. Also included is a giant 88x 52cm world map with colourful illustrations showing animals & sights that can also be a poster. Suitable for children aged eight & over. ...

How to Read Modern Buildings is an indispensable pocket-sized guide to understanding the architecture of the modern era. It takes the reader on a guided tour of modern architecture through its most iconic & significant buildings, showing how to read the hallmarks of each architectural style & how to recognize them in the buildings all around. From Art Deco & Arts & Crafts, through the International Style & Modernism to today`s environmental architecture & the rise & fall of the icon, all the major architectural movements from the 1900s to the present day are traced through their classic buildings. Examining the key architectural elements & hidden details of each style, we learn what to look out for & where to look for it. Packed with detailed drawings, plans, & photographs, this is both a fascinating architectural history & an effective I-spy guide
- a must-read for anyone with an interest in modern design & architecture.
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How to Read New York uncovers & illuminates the rich architectural language of one of the world`s truly great cities, from its celebrated skyscrapers to its lesser-known treasures. Charting both the key technical developments & aesthetic movements that have influenced architecture in the Big Apple, this accessible guide. ...

How to Read Paris is a pocket-sized guide to understanding & appreciating the architecture of Paris. Packed with detailed drawings, plans & photographs, & covering squares, bridges, streets & monuments as well as buildings, it is both a fascinating architectural history & an effective I-spy guide
- a must-read for anyone with an interest in this fascinating & beautiful city. Compact enough to carry in your pocket yet serious enough to impart a real understanding, this handy reference guide.
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`I want to imbue the reader with the same sense of awe & wonder that overtakes me when I stand & look at something that was created on our own soil maybe 5, 000 years ago I want to bring history alive in people`s minds & make it as fascinating for them as it is for me.` Alan Butler How to Read Prehistoric Monuments offers the best possible insight into the massive range of earthworks, henges & standing stones whose founding predates written history. Describing what monuments you can find in the British Isles & where specifically they can be found, the book explains as much as is known about the structures & why they were created as well as offering readers additional information about specific sites which are either especially interesting or especially spectacular. The main body of the book comprises of an A-Z section which details all the prehistoric site types in the British Isles & explains what they are
- for example, ` Long Barrows`, ` Standing Stones` & ` Fugues`. The book offers examples of where some of the structures in question can be found, with longitudes & latitudes so that the sites can be found either on a map or on a search engine like Google Earth. The book

Includes:: profiles of a number of the sites which have particular interest to the tourist & amateur historian.


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