Travel [Landscape format] – serie

When you think of Paris do you picture the Eiffel Tower? The medieval city of Notre Dame? The elegant boulevards of Baron Haussmann? The Montmartre of Toulouse- Lautrec? The grandeur of the Louvre? The Art Nouveau of the Paris Metro? The Grand Projets of François Mitterrand? Or...? Yes, there is just so much beauty to Paris. In 150 striking images, Paris celebrates the French capital, from its world-famous landmarks to evocative alleyways and corners that might surprise you. You may have heard, for instance, about the Paris catacombs and sewers that you can visit, but did you know about La Petite Ceinture, a disused 19th century railway line that circumnavigates the inner city? From the medieval marvels of Sainte-Chapelle to the 1970s Pompidou Centre to the latest pop-up beaches beside the Seine, the book explores a great many sides to the city. In collecting these images of the city today, we come to understand something of its history – from the executions that took place at the Place de la Concorde during the Revolution to the Arc de Triomphe honouring those who served in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to the skyscrapers of La Défense. Presented in a landscape format and with captions explaining the story behind each entry, Paris is a stunning collection of images celebrating the world’s most romantic city.

When you think of London, what do you see? The Houses of Parliament? The bustle around Piccadilly Circus? Elegant Victorian streets and squares? The Tate Modern? Or even Camden Market? With London, there are so many different aspects to the city. In more than 200 striking images, London celebrates the British capital, from its famous landmarks to atmospheric alleyways, from the top of the Shard to London Underground’s lost ghost stations, from the parks to the canals to the Thames. Exploring both the history and modernity of the city, the book reveals the city’s legacy as a capital and a trading hub, but also looks at how the contemporary city lives and breathes as a multi-ethnic metropolis. Presented in a landscape format and with captions explaining the story behind each entry, London is a stunning collection of images celebrating the world’s most interesting city.

Beaches, marshes, mangroves; cliffs, deserts, forests; bays, deltas, estuaries – coastlines take many different forms and are put to very different uses. From deserted beaches to busy ports, from pretty fishing villages to a surfers’ paradise, a salt marsh to a ship-breakers’ yard, Coasts celebrates where the land meets the sea. From beautiful coastal paths to the shipwrecks left high and dry in the Aral Sea, from world famous locations such as Copacabana Beach in Brazil and Big Sur in California to the little explored coastlines of Yemen and Oman, from Algeria to Antarctica, the Amalfi Coast to the Dead Sea, the book celebrates a huge range in coastlines from all around the world. Including nature reserves and tourist resorts, rugged landscapes and desert island tranquility, fjords and fossils, eroding cliffs to whole towns lost to the waters, the book explores coastlines in all climates and conditions around the globe. Presented in a landscape format and with captions explaining the story behind each entry, Coasts is a stunning collection of images and stories.

There is always a sense of adventure when going on a railway journey. Whether it is aboard the Orient Express from London to Istanbul, or travelling the Transcontinental railroad through the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific coast, or riding the Serra Verde Express through the Brazilian rainforest, Rail Journeys takes the reader on a journey through some of the most unusual, romantic and remarkable landscapes in the world. Find out about the Coast Starlight, which carries passengers from Los Angeles along the Pacific coast to Seattle and all points in between; or the 7,000 kilometre Trans-Siberian, crossing the entirety of Mongolia and Russia from Beijing to Moscow; or ‘El Chepe’, the Mexican Copper Canyon railway, a line which took 90 years to build and negotiates 87 tunnels, 36 bridges and sweeping hairpin bends as it climbs from sea level to the rim-top views it offers at 2,400m; or enjoy the engineering excellence of the Konkan Railway in India, connecting Mumbai with the port of Mangalore via some 2,000 bridges and 90 tunnels; or experience the Shinkansen ‘Bullet Train’ as it races at speeds of more than 300 km/h between Tokyo and Kyoto, passing the iconic Mount Fuji on the way. With 200 outstanding colour photographs, Rail Journeys takes the reader to some of the most historic, spectacular and remotest locations in the world, places where trains still offer romantic and astounding experiences of rail travel at its best.

The Arctic may be cold, vast and beautiful, but it is also home to millions of people and animals. It is a region of extremes: extreme cold, extreme seasonal changes in daylight and extreme natural phenomena. It appears as an unwelcoming and hostile environment, but it is full of wildlife, from polar bears to beluga whales to snowshoe hares. Arctic is a fascinating photographic exploration of a region like no other. Be amazed by the natural wonder of the northern lights over the rugged yet enchanting landscapes, and see how humans live and survive in this hostile terrain that is now seeing rapid changes thanks to the rise in average global temperatures. See also how such activities as industry, tourism and research have changed the land. Presented in a landscape format and with captions revealing many fascinating but little- known facts about the history, climate and terrain of this frozen wonderland, Arctic is a stunning collection of 190 images.

From the Neolithic cave paintings in Wadi Sura – created long before it was a desert when the region was savannah grassland – to the Valley of the Kings to the rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel, and from the vast temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor to the funerary mask of Tutankhamun and, of course, to the pyramids and the Sphinx, Ancient Egypt is a hugely colourful guide to the surviving wonders of Egyptian antiquity. Today the exceptional beauty and scale of the antiquities is legendary, drawing millions of visitors to Egypt’s monuments each year.Arranged by region, the book takes the reader along the ancient settlements that were established on the banks of the River Nile. Through beautiful photographs and expert captions, the reader gains an understanding of how ancient Egypt developed its trade links and became such a powerful and wealthy force across North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Alongside the world-famous places, there are also fascinating, lesser-known entries, such as the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the bent pyramid at Dahshur and the Statue of Khaefre.Featuring monuments and obelisks, hieroglyphics and jewelry, funerary masks, tombs and mausoleums, mummies of cats and statues of falcon-headed gods, Ancient Egypt includes 160 outstanding photographs and captions.

The world’s largest and most populous continent with 4.6 billion inhabitants, Asia offers a variety of culture and landscape unmatched elsewhere, ranging from the 6000km- (3728 mile-) long Yangtze River – the heart of Chinese culture and commercial life for millennia – to the deepest recesses of the Bornean rainforest, one of the most biodiverse environments on the planet. Divided into five chapters by region, Asia is a sumptuous introduction to this most vibrant of continents. Explore the 12th century Hindu complex at Angkor Wat; be amazed at the beauty of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam; learn about the Great Wall of China, the world’s longest and oldest fortification dating back to the seventh century BC; and gaze upon the iconic Mt Fuji, one of Japan’s three holy mountains and the highest in the country. With over 180 vivid photographs of Asia, this book offers a pictorial exploration of the culture, flora and fauna of this hugely diverse continent.

The wellspring of key religious faiths, such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism, the Middle East is famed for its warm hospitality and ancient culture. For centuries, it was the heart of the known world and home to some of the great civilizations, including the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, the Abbasid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire. Its towns and deserts have served as crossroads of trade and as a crucible of ideas, science and art that still endure today. For the modern visitor, there is much to choose from. Watch the sun set over the honeycombed magic of Petra and explore tree-lined boulevards and exquisite blue-tiled mosques in Esfahan, Iran. From the deep-rooted communities of Oman to the cosmopolitan energy of Beirut and Dubai, from the quiet spirituality of a Turkish mosque to the bustling markets of Cairo, the Middle East is home to a rich, vibrant mosaic of traditions, languages and food. With more than 200 vivid photographs, this book offers a pictorial exploration of the culture, history, flora and fauna of this hugely diverse region.

The continent of South America is home to impressive diversity and extremes in geography. You can find not only the world’s largest river – the Amazon River– but also the driest non-polar place in the world – the Atacama Desert – in addition to Angel Falls in Venezuela, the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall and the world’s most southernmost permanently inhabited community of Puerto Toro in Chile. Apart from Antarctica, no other continent reaches so far to the south, it has the unique feature of stretching north of the Equator all the way to subantarctic latitudes. This broad range showcases an exceptional diversity of South American climate and ecology. Divided by country, South America is a glorious introduction to this most diverse of continents. Explore the 15th-century Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, often described as the ‘Lost City of the Incas’ and the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire, uncover the secrets of the Amazon rainforest that covers 6,000,000 sq km (2,300,000 sq mi), currently the subject of controversial deforestation, and be amazed at the otherworldly beauty of the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia. With more than 200 vivid photographs of South America, this book offers a stunning exploration of the culture, flora and fauna of this diverse continent.