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 and terracing in th[...]
Fashion is all around us, and few of us are unaffected by it. Yet how many people know the origins of the little black dress, or the bowler hat, or the ladies trouser suit? How many people can pin down the famous brand of leather jacket Marlon Brando wore in The Wild One, or why the Chanel bag is kn[...]
A practical primer for understanding bridges, from suspension bridges to opening bridges; from early stone bridges to modern glass bridges. Complete with highly illustrated case studies of stunning bridges from around the world.[...]
Eroticism is a truly universal topic, a subject that has always fascinated humankind. Erotic art is telling: It reveals much about an era, a culture, and psychology; it can be sweet, aggressive, soothing, or wild. "Erotic Art "explores the history of erotic art and presents paintings, drawings, etch[...]
Today's artists create work that's challenging, complicated, and often perplexing, and this book offers a guide to understanding--and enjoying--the wide range of works on display in museums and galleries worldwide. "How to Read Contemporary Art" provides a thoughtful, accessible, and lavishly illust[...]
"How to Read Impressionism "is a new, original exploration of the 19th-century movement that changed art forever, and made household names of painters such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, Seurat, Cassatt, and others. James Rubin organizes this new look at the movement by subject matter, rather than by arti[...]
Some people approach the book of Isaiah in the same way they approach Paul's letter to the Romans. But the principles for reading Prophetic Books of the Bible are different than the ones for other biblical genres. In this accessible introduction, leading Old Testament scholar Peter Gentry helps read[...]
Death is the one certainty in life, yet, with the decline of religion in the West, we have become collectively reluctant to talk about it. Our contemporary rituals seek to sanitise death and distance us from our own inevitable fate. If we want to know how previous generations dealt with death, grave[...]
How to Read a Paper describes the different types of clinical research reporting, and explains how to critically appraise the publications. The book provides the tools to find and evaluate the literature, and implement the findings in an evidence-based, patient-centered way. Written for anyone in th[...]
How to Read a Paper describes the different types of clinical research reporting, and explains how to critically appraise the publications. The book provides the tools to find and evaluate the literature, and implement the findings in an evidence-based, patient-centered way. Written for anyone in th[...]
Reading is the first, key step of the writing process, often overlooked in study skills books. This is a practical, easy to follow guide that explains a tried and tested strategy for reading.[...]
Step One: Find a story. (A good one.) Step Two: Find a reading buddy. (Someone nice.) Step Three: Find a reading spot. (Couches are cozy.) Now: Begin. Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel chronicle the process of becoming a reader: from pulling a book off the shelf and finding some[...]
Many people admire and even revere the Bible, but they simply do not understand what they read, much less how to "study" Scripture. Yet they wish they could. In this insightful and alternately amusing guide, Professor Mark Yarbrough shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock the hidden truths of [...]
"How to Read the Qur'an" offers a compact introduction and reader's guide for anyone, non-Muslim or Muslim, who wants to know how to approach, read, and understand the text of the Qur'an. Using a chronological reading of the text according to the conclusions of modern scholarship, Carl Ernst offers [...]
For the last fifteen years, if a novel was published, John Freeman has been there to greet it. As a critic for more than two hundred newspapers worldwide, and current editor of Granta, he has reviewed thousands of books and interviewed scores of writers, and in How to Read a Novelist, he shares with[...]
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, and materials, and showing how these aspects can be recognized across architectural features from the floor-plan and moat, to the to[...]
How to Read Paintings is a valuable visual guide to Western European painting. Through a gallery of artworks accompanied by informative commentary, it enables readers to swiftly develop their understanding of the grammar and vocabulary of painting, and to discover how to look at diverse paintings in[...]
Fashion is ever-changing, and while some styles mark a dramatic departure from the past, many exhibit subtle differences from year to year that are not always easily identifiable. With overviews of each key period and detailed illustrations for each new style, How to Read a Dress is an authoritativ[...]
Fashion is ever-changing and while some styles mark a dramatic departure from the past, many exhibit subtle differences from year to year that are not always easy to identify. With lavish illustrations and concise notes on each new style, How to Read a Dress provides the ideal visual guide to women[...]
Graphology is the art of reading character from handwriting. That there is a relationship between character and style of penmanship has long been recognized, but until recently little has been done to formulate the principles upon which this relationship is based. Enough has now been accomplished in[...]
A Sunday Times 'Must Read' book 'This study of rivers, lakes, puddles and seas brims over with astonishing facts...His observational skills can be breathtaking' The Sunday Times A must-have book for walkers, sailors, swimmers, anglers and everyone interested in the natural world, in How To Read Wa[...]