Category Archives: World Music
Adjaye Africa Architecture
The African continent contains some of the world`s most vibrant culture and creativity, and yet its buildings – vernacular, colonial or contemporary – have rarely engaged the interest of Western architects. David Adjaye, the first black architect to establish a truly global reputation in his field, has found endless sources of inspiration for his designs
Exotic Postcards – The Lure of Distant Lands
This album of over 200 century-old postcards takes the reader on a magical journey across the world in five travelogues, depicting the Orient, the Arab lands, Africa, the Americas and Oceania. These haunting postcards and the people they depict strike us with a special force today, vividly expressing a deep-seated connection with the land and
Earth From The Air 365 New Days
This stunning daybook presents 365 entirely new, utterly dazzling images from master aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The pictures cover every corner of every continent, from icy arctic floes to tropical forests, from the deserts of north Africa to the vertiginous peaks of Nepal. Arthus-Bertrand`s breathtaking, full-colour photographs are accompanied by informative captions that illuminate what
Todd Webb in Africa: Outside The Frame
Todd Webb is largely known for his skillful photographic documentation of everyday life and architecture in cities, most notably New York and Paris, as well as his photographs of the American West. This new book showcases a different side of Webb`s work, taken from an assignment that took him to eight African countries. In 1958,
Cave Art
Deep underground, hidden from view, some of humanity`s earliest artistic endeavours have lain buried for thousands of years. The most ancient artworks were portable objects, left on cave floors. Shell beads signal that 100,000 years ago humans had developed a sense of self and a desire to beautify the body; ostrich eggshells incised with curious
The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals
โ€The Behavior Guide to African Mammalsโ€ is as different from a conventional field guide as motion pictures are from a snapshot. Whether we are able to look at them face to face, on television, or in the hundreds of illustrations provided here by Daniel Otte, this guide allows us to understand what animals do and
The Red Sea: In Search of Lost Space
The Red Sea has, from time immemorial, been one of the world`s most navigated spaces, in the pursuit of trade, pilgrimage and conquest. Yet this multidimensional history remains largely unrevealed by its successive protagonists. Intrigued by the absence of a holistic portrayal of this body of water and inspired by Fernand Braudel`s famous work on
Plague, Pestilence and Pandemic: Voices from History
Humanity has always been struck by pestilence and pandemics, from the plagues of ancient Egypt to the pox that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages, to Covid-19. People living through the crises have always recorded what they saw, what they felt, and what they did. Some presented sober facts laced with anecdote, while others produced
In Full Flight: Story of Africa and Atonement
The remarkable story of one woman`s search for a new life in Africa in the wake of World War II–a life that sparked a heroic career, but also hid a secret past.Dr. Anne Spoerry treated hundreds of thousands of people across rural Kenya over the span of fifty years. A member of the renowned Flying
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
The gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt, worshipped for over half of recorded history, are among the most fascinating and complex of any civilization. Here is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the deities that lay at the heart of Egyptian religion and society. It examines the evolution, worship and eventual decline of the numerous
Saladin: The Life, the Legend and the Islamic Empire
Saladin remains one of the most iconic figures of his age. As the man who united the Arabs and saved Islam from Christian crusaders in the 12th century, he is the Islamic world`s preeminent hero. Ruthless in defence of his faith, brilliant in leadership, he also possessed qualities that won admiration from his Christian foes.
Morocco: A Sense of Place
An innovative mix of travelogue and armchair travel, this book is presented as an ideal photo album of a trip to Morocco the kind of album that everyone wishes they had the time or skill to put together, without the hassle of sifting through crumpled leaflets or fuzzy photos of monuments hidden behind the heads
Sunken Cities: Egypt`s Lost Worlds
Beneath the waters of Abukir Bay, at the edge of the Nile Delta, lie the submerged remains of the ancient Egyptian cities Naukratis and Thonis-Heracleion, which sank over 1,000 years ago but were dramatically rediscovered in the 20th century and brought to the surface by marine archaeologists in the 1990s. These pioneering underwater excavations continue
Monsters: A Bestiary of the Bizarre
Monsters have preoccupied mankind from the earliest times: even cave art includes animal-human monsters. Certainly monsters were present in the ancient religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia; the Old Testament describes the giant land and sea monsters Behemoth and Leviathan, while in the world of Classical mythology, monsters embody the fantasies of the gods and the
Akhenaten: Egypt`s False Prophet
One of the most compelling and controversial figures in history, Akhenaten has captured the imagination like no other Egyptian pharaoh. Known today as a heretic, Akhenaten sought to impose upon Egypt and its people the worship of a single god – the sun – and in so doing changed the country in every way. In
Egyptologists` Notebooks
For centuries the beguiling ancient ruins of Egypt have provided an endless source of fascination for explorers, antiquarians, treasure hunters and archaeologists. All, from the very earliest travellers, were entranced by the beauty and majesty of the landscape: the remains of tombs cut into the natural rock of hillsides and the temples and cities gently
I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria
In 669 BC Ashurbanipal inherited the world`s largest empire, which stretched from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the mountains of western Iran. He ruled from his massive capital at Nineveh, in present-day Iraq, where temples and palaces adorned with brilliantly carved sculptures dominated the citadel mound, and an elaborate system of aqueducts and
Islamic Geometric Design
Islamic geometric designs are admired worldwide for their beauty and marvellous intricacy, yet in truth they are seldom understood. Indeed, their complexity and artistry can seem almost beyond the powers of human ingenuity. In this handsomely illustrated volume, artist and teacher Eric Broug analyses and explains these complex designs in their historical and physical context.
Moments of Mindfulness: African Wisdom
Each book in the `Moments of Mindfulness` series pairs the wise words of a great writer, master, philosopher or poet with Olivier Follmi`s beautiful and moving photographs. Follmi travelled far and wide to witness the celebrations, landscapes, rituals and traditions of cultures all over the world, discovering new ways of seeing as he sought to
Homegoing
Selected for Granta`s Best of Young American Novelists 2017Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best First BookShortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader`s wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through
