Companion Guides – serie

One of the classic "Companion Guides", this volume explores the English county of Devon. Each book in the series aims to provide a comprehensive travel companion in the person of the author, who knows intimately the places and people of which he or she writes.

For anyone planning a visit to Burgundy this Guide is indispensable. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENTAs elegant as it is exhaustive. The whole book has body and bouquet, [its author] is well-read, witty, relaxed and impeccably observant. GUARDIANBurgundy is one of the richest areas in France - rich in its art and architecture, its history, its food and wines, and its glorious countryside. Nowhere in Europe are there greater examples of the Romanesque: the basilica of the Madeleine at Vézelay, the sculptures of Gislebertus of Autun, the cathedral of St Philibert at Tournus. The very names of its vineyards - Corton, Chambertin, Montrachet - conjure up the robust and mature bouquet of the province. Once the abbeys at Cluny, Pontigny and Fontenay were the wellspring of medieval Christianity in Europe; now the spiritual community at Taizé speaks to the whole world. Nowhere in France is the sense of the past more immediate, nowhere does it so palpably inform the present.On its first publication, the Companion Guide to Burgundy established itself as the indispensable guide to the region. In this extensively revised new edition, FRANCIS PAGAN has updated and expanded the text to provide the reader with the most knowledgeable, reliable and attentive guide now available to this most fascinating and hospitable region of France.

A lively, discerning companion to the beauty, myth and history of a fascinating and lovely region."A consistently first-rate series." THE TIMESWhen Ernle Bradford's Companion Guide to the Greek Islands first appeared in 1963 it was immediately hailed as the best published guide to the diverse and endlessly fascinating islands of the Aegean and Ionian seas.This revised edition of this classic travel guide profits from FRANCIS PAGAN's twenty years' of travel in Greek waters, and deep knowledge of the area. He has added further touches to Bradford's vivid accounts of the moods of the sea and the islanders' traditional ways of life, leading the reader to unexpected discoveries (hidden monasteries, hill-top villages, flowery valleys, quiet places by the sea), and writes in more depth of the Classical, Byzantine and medieval past. Included in this edition are accounts of recent archaeological work in the islands by British, American, and other European schools; he also guides the reader to sites which have become more accessible as communications multiply by sea, air and land. Photographs by George Domatas.

`Richly informative, an admirable piece of historical writing - offers lively interest wherever it is opened'YORKSHIRE POSTThis is a book to read before you go, to carry with you and to re-read on your return. SPECTATORA sure and illuminating guide. SUNDAY TIMESThe city state of Florence led the rest of the western world in art, science and political idealism in the middle ages. This early richness, the importance of the achievements of its famous sons, including Dante, Giotto, Leonardo and Michelangelo, the great quantity of visible remains, make Florence as a city to visit both alluring and challenging. In true Companion Guide manner, this book describes, with the knowledge and insight distilled from long residence in Florence, and with an art historian's eye, what is to be seen and its place in history. In discussing the Florentine monuments and their origins in the city's life, EVE BORSOOK presents a study of the ideas, events and personalities of Florence yesterday and today; she communicates to the visitor her delight in her chosen city, including those districts usually neglected by the tourist but particularly rich in Florentine life.EVE BORSOOK is a research associate at Harvard's Centerfor Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti in Florence.

`An exuberant performance' THE TIMESHighly praised on its first appearance, this new edition of the Companion Guide to Paris, fully revised by Anthony Glyn's widow, preserves his vivid evocation of Paris - its foundation and history, ancient churches, wide boulevards and narrow streets, architecture, and philosophy - while bringing the book up to date. Special attention is paid to the completed Grand Louvre with its Pyramid, the d'Orsay and Picasso Museums and the refurbished Centre Pompidou; the changes to the Eiffel Tower and the Panthéon; and the restoration of the footpaths along the Seine. Informed and amusing, the book captures the changing moods of this fascinating city.

Comprehensive guide to the Lake District, fully revised and updated.Unimprovably good JOHN LANCHESTER, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSThere is hardly a stone in the Lake District that Frank Welsh leaves unturned. From the particular delights of the places with which the Lake Poets are associated - Dove Cottage, Grasmere, Buttermere, Cockermouth - to the remoter parts of the Eden Valley and Furness, over the fells, beside the lakes, through history, topography, archaeology, literature, geology and even bakery, Frank Welsh is the consummate guide and companion, writing with wit, intelligence and true skill. He covers both the less visited, and, in the author's view, unappreciated, parts of the Lake District, as well as those which no visitor will want to miss.

`It offers all that the visitor with a concern for beauty and for leisurely sight-seeing will require.' Financial Times`If ever a guidebook were designed to be read as literature it is Mr Honour's. Even those who know Venice welland love it well will add to their appreciation from this seemingly endless store of information.' EconomistOffers all that the visitor with a concern for beauty and for leisurely sight-seeing will require. FINANCIAL TIMESThe best guide book I have ever encountered... and a book I found it impossible not to read from beginning to end. OBSERVERThere are few pleasanter ways of passing a summer's evening than sitting over a cup of coffee, and perhaps a glass of Aurum, in the Piazza San Marco. It is especially agreeable on those nights when the Venetian city band thunders away at some throbbingly romantic piece... And all the while the younger inhabitants parade around the square, chattering, flirting, quarrelling and staring at their visitors with that same unwinking gaze that Venetians have turned on their guests for the past five centuries. The facade of San Marco closes the scene in a glitter of golden mosaic and a bubbling of cupolas, while the great thick red campanile stretches up into the warm mothy darkness of the summer sky.Hugh Honour, it is clear, knows Venice exceptionally well and catches the rhythms of the city's life with unerring skill. His guide, with its winning blend of evocativedetail and precise information, spurs the reader to investigate Venice's wonders: Piazza San Marco is only the beginning of a journey into the heart of Venice and its history.

This is a thoroughly revised and updated edition of KEITH SPENCE's essential guide to two of the most beautiful - and often still unspoiled - counties in England, which on its first publication quickly established itself as the best available guide to the area.Mr Spence shows how much as yet survives and how rich, varied and fascinating this part of England still is. He writes sensitively and knowledgeably about buildings and architecture, andhas a keen sense of the detail that gives identity to a place. There is much to be learned from this book, which maintains the high standard of the Companion Guide series. OBSERVER

Berlin's traumatic past and vibrant present explored and explained in a guide to the culture, buildings and society of the city.Most people do not think of Berlin as a beautiful city, but it is filled with stunning sights, sounds and textures, all the more astonishing when the stories behind them are revealed. Today's Berlin is new and vibrant, but historyhas left its scars. A look in the right place is rewarded with glimpses of the glories of old Prussia as well as the abominations of Hitler's Third Reich and of the outer bulwark of the Soviet empire. Brian Ladd, a historian whohas been returning to Berlin for twenty-five years, pays homage to the familiar landmarks, but he also penetrates into obscure corners of the city and brings them alive with his shrewd and informed comment. He explains what the sights of Berlin have meant to Berliners who coped under kings and dictators, and who toiled, suffered and celebrated as their city was destroyed and rebuilt. This book invites you to share their passions as it draws you into the dynamic new capital that has risen from wreckage of post-war German history. BRIAN LADD is at the State University of New York at Albany. He has been a constant visitor to Berlin over a quarter of a century.

The traveller gets exactly what he needs, and in a handy format. THE TIMESThe author seems to have covered every road in the country, and has something of interest to say about virtually every site. COUNTRY LIFEIstanbul is the only city in the world that stands astride two continents, spreading across from Europe into Asia at the southern end of the Bosphorus, the incomparably beautiful strait linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Turkey.This Companion Guide to Istanbul goes as far as the region around Marmara from the Bosphorus to the Dardanelles, which flows into the Aegean past the historic ruins of Troy on its Asian shore.Revised and updated for this new edition, the book is a guide to the Byzantine and Ottoman monuments and to the many other places of great historic interest around the Marmara, including Edirne, Bursa and Iznik, ancient Nicaea, as well as the renowned archaeological site of Homeric Troy. It is also an introduction to Turkey itself and to its people and their way of life, which they are more than willing to share with the traveller who takes the time to become acquainted with them.JOHN FREELY has lived and worked on America's east coast, in Britain, and around the Mediterranean, but is long-time Professor of Physics at the University of the Bosphorus, Istanbul, and has been resident for many years in Turkey. His understanding of the land and its people has made him a respected interpreter of Turkey ancient and modern.

`The perfect guide to this tremendous city' OBSERVERWritten with unfailing common sense, as well as insight and affection... the perfect guide to this tremendous city OBSERVERA true traveller's companion and friend SUNDAY TELEGRAPHFor more thanthirty years Michael Leapman has been intimately involved with New York as a journalist, resident or frequent visitor. Here he takes readers with him on a series of walks through the heart of Manhattan and beyond, explaining howit came to be the world's most fabulous city, as well as revealing its present-day secrets. When the original edition of this incomparable guide was published in 1983, it won the Thomas Cook award as the guide book of the year. After he revised it in 1991 it was chosen by New York Magazine as the best of nearly a hundred books about the city. Now he has been back to retrace his steps. Thoroughly updated, this book is packed with inspiration, revelation, and sound practical advice.MICHAEL LEAPMAN lived in New York for seven years, as correspondent for The Times, reporting perceptively on the city's delights and foibles. He continues to visit New York regularly and to write about it for magazines and other newspapers. This is a reissue of a book first published in 1983 and last revised in 2000. It therefore includes references to and descriptions of the World Trade Center. These have been left in for historical interest.

I value the traditional virtues of the Companion Guides... actually written by an individual rather than packaged by production teams... straightforward intelligent guides to cultural sites. BOOKSELLER Andalucia in its heyday, after the invasion of the Moors in 711, was famous for its wealth and fertility, and the province's Moorish character remains distinct; even before the Moors, the Phoenicians, the Romans and the Vandals had all beendrawn to this beautiful land. The Moors cultivated science and the arts, and their influence was felt throughout western Europe - in the songs of the troubadours, the poems of Dante and the discoveries of Copernicus; their merchants enriched the province; their courtiers and architects set new standards of luxurious living. This glory finally ended in 1492, when the Christian armies of the Reconquista entered Granada, but much remains in the three Moorishtowns of Cordoba, Seville and Granada, and the country round about, to recall the great times. Alfonso Lowe is an admirable guide, from the intricacies of the distinction between Mozarabic and Mudejar Moorish styles to the characteristic dishes to be found in restaurants and bars - and to the adjacent territories of Murcia and the greater part of Alicante.

As well as being a practical guide it's an exhilarating read... It is a delightful thing: anybody contemplaing crossing to Ireland for pleasure shouldn't think of going without consulting it. OBSERVER

When Brian de Jongh's two classic Companion Guides, Southern Greece and Mainland Greece, were first published they were greeted with acclaim and immediately established themselves as essential guides. They have now been combined into this single volume, covering the whole of the Greek mainland. This new edition has been thoroughly revised by John Gandon (Brian de Jongh's nephew) and Geoffrey Graham-Bell, taking into account both new archaeological discoveries and recent development.Brian de Jongh combined an expert knowledge of history, archaeology and mythology with a profound understanding of the Greek people and a feeling for the landscape which inspired their myths and monuments: he describes a country that he loved and much of which Pausanias, writing almost two thousand years ago, would still recognise. This book is, more than ever, the most indispensable of all modern guides toGreece.

Has strong claims to be among the best guidebooks ever written. SUNDAY TELEGRAPHIt is surely remarkable to write of a guidebook that it is difficult to put down. But it is certainly true of this one. ECONOMISTCalls our attention to everything beautiful, historic or curious left in the heart of London. SUNDAY TIMESDavid Piper's classic book is the most elegant, lyrical and stimulating of all guides to London, written with undisguised enthusiasm, intimacy and affection. It traverses London from Regent's Park to Lambeth, from the Tower of London to Kensington, with excursions on the river and forays to outlying points of interest, each chapter covering an area which can be comfortably walked in a day. The author draws out the individual character of each district through history, literature, art and architecture and his own informed and entertaining comments. This is an essential guide for those who really want to understand how London has developed; it has been thoroughly revised and updated for this new edition.DAVID PIPER was an art historian, director of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, from 1973-1985, and before that director of the National Portrait Gallery, London; FIONNUALA JERVIS, who revised the guide, has edited and contributed to numerous historical and art historical publications, and in the course of this revision has walked every step of the way in David Piper's footprints from her home in Kensington.

The history and culture of Madrid, the cluster of historical cities at an easy distance (Segovia, Avila and Toledo) and the heartlands of Castile - the core of Spanish civilisation.This book performs with great thoroughness all the usual functions of a guidebook. But it is much more than a mere inventory of buildings, paintings, sculpture, routes and views, supplemented by appendices packed with practical information. The authors - from their long experience and deep knowledge of the country - are exceptionally well-equipped to draw together into a coherent whole all the threads of history, art, culture and recent developments. Theysteer you in most rewarding directions, enlivening the hallowed hush of museum or sacristy with an original interpretation of some great painter - El Greco, Goya, Picasso - or an observation which suddenly illuminates the seemingly unexceptional. Madrid, rather than just a political capital at the geographical centre of the country, is revealed as a true metropolis, genuinely representative of all the aspects and regional variations of Spanish life. Its art collections are justly renowned as superb. Add in the cluster of historical cities at an easy distance (including Segovia, Avila and Toledo), to say nothing of the lesser-known treasures and delights secreted in the heartlands of Castile, and you have, within a manageable compass, the core of Spanish civilisation.

Long overdue: Revised, updated, freshly-illustrated Edinburgh joins the Companion Guide series, informative on Edinburgh's - and Scotland's - past and present.Edinburgh is one of Europe's most elegant and cosmopolitan cities, the Old Town rebuilt on the medieval street plan after being burned down by the English in 1544, and the eighteenth-century classical New Town more extensive thananything else of its kind in Europe. Edinburgh was the capital of an independent kingdom for more than two hundred and fifty years, and it has the air of a capital, with buildings where kings were born or where some of their moreprominent subjects were assassinated, streets once trodden by Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie, and a rich artistic life that comes into exhilarating full flower in August with the Edinburgh Festival.Edinburgh is also the gateway to some of the most spectacularly beautiful country in Britain: lying southward is the romantic landscape of the Borders, where Alexander Youngson is an admirable guide to the ruined abbeys, the castles thathave withstood countless sieges, and the great houses still owned by families 'that the Flood could not wash away'.A.J. YOUNGSON is former chairman of the Fine Art Commission for Scotland.

The Companion Guide to St Petersburg was first published in spring 2003 to coincide with the tercentenary of the founding of the city.Most visitors to St Petersburg have heard at least four facts about it: that it is 'the Venice of the North'; that a vast number of workmen, perhaps a hundred thousand, died in the early years of its construction; that it was built on uninhabited marshes; and that it was founded on territory which did not andnever had belonged to Russia. These 'facts' have one feature in common: none of them is true. Few people can say this with more authority that Kyril Zinovieff, who comes from a family associated with the administration of St Petersburg since the eighteenth century. He recalls being taken as a child in 1917 to see the damage done to the Winter Palace - which he found regettably unspectacular. And more: 'My sister and I may have been two of the last people still alive to have seen Rasputin' is the startling beginning of another chapter.His knowledge of the history of his city, where every stone tells a story, is encyclopaedic; his respect for the spiritual strength of its inhabitants unbounded; he has produced a work of charm, humour and erudition with a unique insight into this amazing city. KYRIL ZINOVIEFF, as Kyril Fitzlyon, has made noted translations from the Russian, including the Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky; this book has been written with JENNY HUGHES, formerly of the Economist and the Guardian.

A lively, informed, authoritative and entertaining account of what Wales has to offer native and newcomer alike. PLANETThe question posed to the author once by a prospective visitor to Wales - "What is there to see?" - is not susceptible of a short, or quick, answer. For the delights of Wales are cumulative and understated: a succession of small country churches rather than great city cathedrals, a labyrinth of byways away from the few highways, details of vernacular architecture rather than grand edifices, the thirteenth-century Edwardian castles being the exception thatproves this rule. A cultural tradition rooted in the austerity and erudition of the Celtic saints, a tradition more confirmed than repudiated by the Reformation, is best appreciated by lovers of small things. Wales is a country where small is beautiful. For although the juggernaut of globalisation may be threatening the Welsh way of life with extinction, in the words of a contemporary Welsh folk anthem: "In spite of everything, we're still here."DAVID BARNES is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and teaches at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

This vivid, knowledgeable and privileged guide to the riches of Sicily is vintage Companion Guide.The beautiful island of Sicily, poised between Europe and Africa, has seen many invaders, nearly all of whom have left their mark in art and architecture. It is also a land of myth and enigma, pagan below the Catholic surface, troubled by the shadow of the Mafia - in the words of the great Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia, a fantasy world.Raleigh Trevelyan knows the island intimately, and his knowledge adds immeasurably to the experience of visiting the great sites: Segesta, Agrigento and the mosaics of the Roman villa near Piazza Armerina, Palermo and Monreale, the theatre at Syracuse and the baroque marvels of Noto. Unforgettable though these are, Sicily's unique character is more fully revealed as the author makes his leisurely way from province to province, describing the landscape and monuments, great treasures and remote villages, and spicing these discoveries with personal anecdote and references from writers down the centuries. RALEIGH TREVELYAN's books include several on Italian themes, notably Princes under the Volcano and two outstanding books about the Second World War in Italy: The Fortress: A Diary of Anzio and After and Rome 1944: The Battle for the Eternal City.