Don Farber's highly acclaimed photographs open a spectacular view of the beauty & diversity of Buddhist life around the world. His superb eye for composition, his attention to color & detail, & his intimate knowledge of Buddhism come together to produce outstanding, often breathtaking images. A selection of Farber's best work to date, Visions of Buddhist Life brings an important message of compassion, healing, & understanding to today's troubled world. The photographs, together with Farber's extensive captions, take us to the temples, monasteries, & colorful streets of Los Angeles, Kyoto, & Bangkok, & travel onward to China, India, Nepal, South Korea, & Taiwan. They depict Buddhists alone & in crowds, in cities rich & poor, in meditation & in conversation. They also picture some of the great teachers of our day--the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, & Kalu Rinpoche. These images capture some of the last Tibetan masters to have received their training before the Chinese invasion & are a vital documentation of a tradition in danger of vanishing forever.A study in the human face, in the art of spiritual devotion, in the evocative power of landscape, this collection of images provides an essential context for understanding Buddhism. Visions of Buddhist Life is also a visual & spiritual journey into a realm where the doctrine of nonviolence is paramount & where peace begins with the thoughts & actions of the individual. ...

Visions of Earth raises a curtain on the wonders of the world & thrills us with nature`s opulence & humanity`s splendour. Each image alone exposes a nugget of our planet`s magnificence; the totality of the collection goes beyond our imagination. Turning the pages, viewers are struck by the richness of life on Earth. One photograph is more awe-inspiring than the next-chosen by veteran National Geographic Magazine photo editors to present what is visually incredible. The photographs are drawn from the popular Visions of Earth feature in the magazine, (rated number 1 by readers), from our own storied Image Collection, & from renowned photographers throughout the world, many never-before published. Enthralling images fill the book in a gallery of stunning landscapes, fascinating people, amazing animals, & unexpected glimpses of the usual & unusual. Puffins` beaks signal breeding time in Norway & a speckled emperor moth in South Africa diverts predators with an illusion. An elephant takes a morning dip in India`s Andaman Sea while Siamese crocodiles race in Thailand & surfers in Australia relish a perfect day. Monks in Bhutan run to dinner & a little girl in red stands out among white-robed women in an Indonesian mosque. Spanish youth decked in colourful, oversize papier-mache heads celebrate a festival in Catalonia & a flower of flame blooms from a man`s kerosene
- filled mouth in a Sikh celebration in India. Around the globe, amazing moments are captured in time, from a spray of flash frozen petal fragments in California to a truck show of chrome
- covered & gleaming neon rigs half the world away in Japan. Visions of Earth is a welcome escape from the news of natural disasters, conflict, political upheaval, & social unrest that fills our lives. The book delights our senses, ignites our emotions, & renews our optimism, showcasing the many ways that our world is a marvel to behold & a privilege to call home.

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Why do we still get misty-eyed about England`s green & pleasant land? What explains our obsession with country houses
- from the
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What does it mean to be English? For centuries, Englishness was synonymous with Britishness, informed first by the political dominance of the English monarchs over the British Isles
- reaching its apogee in the rule of Elizabeth I
- & later by the island's imperial might & expansion. But alongside that tradition, reaching back to medieval times, there has also been a vision of England as the rural arcadia celebrated by painters & poets. While the mythology of empire lingers on in the national psyche, Roy Strong argues that it is the rural tradition
- combining aestheticism, pastoralism & patriotism
- that offers an answer to the present crisis of English identity. National identity essentially resides in the mind: evolving over time it is inevitably selective in how it epitomizes the ideals & aspirations of a people. In this searching & deeply passionate book, Roy Strong reveals an iconography of England rooted in the cultural imagination. Rather than simply depicting reality, art & literature have often ennobled
- & immortalised
- reality in a way that has directly affected how we see ourselves. Today we view Suffolk through the eyes of Constable, the Lake District comes to life in the poetry of Wordsworth, & the country house seems to emerge from the novels of Evelyn Waugh. Free from nationalism, chauvinism & political bias, Roy Strong offers a vision of England that is inclusive & relevant for everybody living in the country today
- an appreciation of the beauty of the English countryside, a love of nature & gardening, & a celebration of the dramas of Shakespeare, the paintings of Turner & the music of Elgar.






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Visions of Paradise is a panoply of experiences from the most peripatetic photographers on Earth
- the photographers of National
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Fully updated official map of Scotl&, published in association with Scotland`s national tourist authority, Visit Scotl&, shows Scotland`s tourist attractions on one easy-to-use Collins map. This clear, easy to follow Collins road map with colour classified roads contains everything for the tourist who wishes to explore this beautiful country. The map, at a scale of 5 miles to 1 inch (approximately 1:300, 000), shows the locations of over 1700 things to do & places to visit. The map
Includes::* Castles, gardens, distilleries, museums & art galleries.* Ancient monuments & natural wonders & beautiful scenery.* Country parks, forest trails & cycle routes & other outdoor activities.* Camping & caravan sites.* Visit Scotland i Centres & National Tourist Routes.* Detailed inset maps of the main cities Glasgow & Edinburgh.* Distance chart in miles.
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The official map of Scotl&, published in association with Scotland's national tourist authority, Visit Scotl&, shows Scotland's tourist attractions on one easy-to-use map. This clear, easy to follow road map with colour classified roads contains everything for the tourist who wishes to explore this beautiful country. The map, at a scale of 5 miles to 1 inch (approximately 1:300, 000), shows the locations of over 1700 things to do & places to visit. The map
Includes:: Castles, gardens, distilleries, museums & art galleries. Ancient monuments & natural wonders & beautiful scenery. Country parks, forest trails & cycle routes & other outdoor activities. Camping & caravan sites. Visit Scotland Information Centres & National Tourist Routes. Detailed inset maps of the main cities Glasgow & Edinburgh. Distance chart in miles.
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The lifeless moonscape of Canada`s oil sand strip mines. A vast vortex of plastic floating endlessly around the Pacific. An eerie abandoned town square in a radioactive Ukrainian wilderness. These are the places the tourist boards would rather you didn`t see. The places that don`t show up in any guide books. & the places that, six years ago, journalist & film-maker Andrew Blackwell set out to explore. Visit Sunny Chernobyl is the wry, funny, sometimes poignant tale of his trip through the world`s most degraded environments. ...

The lifeless moonscape of Canada`s oil sand strip mines. A vast vortex of plastic floating endlessly around the Pacific. An eerily abandoned town square in a radioactive Ukrainian wilderness. These are places the tourist boards would rather you didn`t see. The places that don`t show up in any guide books. & the places that, six years ago, journalist & film-maker Andrew Blackwell set out to explore. ” Visit Sunny Chernobyl” is the wry, funny, sometimes poignant tale of his trip through the world`s most degraded environments. ...

Mexico, through the eyes of Sybille Bedford is a country of passion & paradox: arid desert & shrieking jungle, harsh sun & deep shadow, violence & sentimentality. In her frank descriptions of the horrors of travel
- through bug-infested jungle, trapped in a broiling stationary train, or in a bus with a dead fish slapping against her face
- she gains our trust. But it is the charmed world of Don Otavio which steals our imagination. He is, she says, ”one of the kindest men I ever met”. She stays in his crumbling ancestral mansion, living a life of provincial ease & observing with glee the intense life of a Mexican neighbourhood.

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