When women posed with their knitting in the earliest nineteenth-century photographs, it demonstrated their virtue and skill as homemakers. Later, knitting became fashionable among the wealthy as a sign of culture and artistic ability. During the two world wars, images of nurses, soldiers, prisoners, and even knitting clubs composed of very serious small boys—all with heads bent down, intent on knitting items (especially socks) for the troops—abounded. In the 1950s and 1960s, as snapshots became ubiquitous, knitters took on a jauntier air, posing with handiwork held proudly aloft. People Knitting is a quirky and fascinating gift for the knitter in your life.

    so why not dogs soaking up the exhilarating no-holds-barred pleasure of a car ride? Photographer Lara Jo Regan began her pet project as a calendar, but the response was overwhelming and absolute: Her photographs of the cruising canines, taken from incredible perspectives, with tongues hanging and ears flapping, became a global Internet sensation.The energy of the photographs is impressive and visceral. In order to get these shots, Regan built a special light, which jutted out over the roof of the car, a harness that allowed her to lean out of the window, and various other contraptions to make the images come to life. This book will make you laugh out loud and want to share it with everyone you know. It’s full speed happiness.

    From day one, the magazine has maintained a Tokyo bureau, which today also encompasses a Monocle shop and radio studio.Over the past decade, the magazine and its team have continued to build upon their appreciation for and understanding of the nation of Japan. Monocle’s stories have covered everything from a live journey on the emperor’s jet and the tastiest places to eat in Kagoshima to the fashion designers challenging conventions and the businesses with remarkable stories untold outside Japan.The Monocle Book of Japan reveals the best of the country in the run-up to the 2021 Olympics. Complete with striking photography and captivating essays, this volume showcases some of Japan’s most intriguing splendors.

    Happily, Jodi Cobb is able to show us—before they vanish—both the ceremonial world of the geisha in Tokyo and Kyoto and their private world as few outsiders have ever seen it.Many of the older women we meet here were forced into this world by hardship; the young women were drawn to it by their dream of aromantic life or their love of traditional arts. We see geisha in their daytime routines: fine-tuning their breathtakingly lavish wardrobes; perfecting the art of makeup; training maikos (apprentices); and preparing for annual dance performances.But as we watch the geisha at night, as they entertain (for huge sums) at private parties, their art takes a different form. Their purpose is to provide a dream—of luxury, romance and exclusivity. As the men sit at dinner, geisha position themselves at their elbows to serve them sake and delicacies and practice a brilliantly honed art of conversation. As the alcohol flows and the guests relax, geisha play party tricks and sing songs. Geisha have for centuries studied the male ego. They tend it like a garden—and we watch men bloom.This long-hidden world is revealed here both in superlative photographs and in a fascinating text that includes the voices of the geisha themselves. These women have created a life of beauty, making themselves an embodiment of Japanese culture, tradition and refinement—a life that is captured exquisitely in this remarkable book.

    A fresh, bold interpretative survey, it focuses on the dynamic social forces underlying the Chinese Communists' rise in three short decades from obscurity to power.The author seeks above all to relate the events of this tumultuous period to certain tentative generalizations about the nature and course of the revolution. He is concerned less with the May Fourth Movement as such, for example, than with the revolution's intellectual origins, less with the Communist party's early political history than with the place of Marxist ideology in that history, less with the military aspects of the war of 1937-45 than with the influence of nationalism in the growing success of the Communists.An important part of the book deals with the various governmental and non-governmental attempt at reform during the Kuomintang era, which the author shows were too little too late to dam the swelling flood of revolution. The conclusion evaluates the crucial role of imperialism, the peasantry, and the army in the Chinese "formula" for revolution and re-examines the relationship between Marxism and the Chinese Revolution.

    All of the telltale signs are there: the sound of joyful music pipes across the promenade; the smells of popcorn and cookies waft through the air; and the colorful attraction posters depict all the wonderful rides and shows created for Guests by the Imagineers. Poster Art of the Disney Parks is a tribute to those posters, which begin telling the story of each attraction even before Guests have entered the queue area. Disney attraction posters have been an important means of communication since Disneyland began displaying them in 1956. Not only are they eye-catching pieces of artwork that adorn the Parks with flair and style, they are also displayed to build excitement and disseminate information about the newest additions to the Disney landscape. When the first attraction posters made their debut at Disneyland, one such piece of art proclaimed that Guests could have a “true-life adventure” on the Jungle Cruise. And in 2012 at Disney California Adventure, a poster announced the grand opening of Cars Land—the newest thrill-filled destination at the Disneyland Resort. Both of those posters are reproduced within this book, along with posters from every decade in between. As evidenced by the evolution of the attraction posters, art styles and design techniques have certainly changed over the years. These characteristics also differ from continent to continent. Posters from Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris exhibit the nuances in presentation that give each Park’s pantheon of posters its signature look. But while artistic interpretations and color palettes may vary from Park to Park and from year to year, the spirit of Disney storytelling is a constant that ties them all together.

    Rachael Hale's signature style catches the eye of everyone who comes across it. Featuring 101 color photographs of Chihuahuas, Great Danes, and everything in between, 101 SALIVATIONS presents dogs in all sorts of wonderful poses that bring out their most endearing characteristics. Rachael's secret to capturing a dog's soul is to focus on his eyes-whether they are wide and shining, or heavy-lidded, in the throes of slumber. Within this book we can see the soul of our own best buddies staring back at us. The book is peppered with humorous and touching quotations from well-known authors such as A.A. Milne and Fran Lebowitz. Following in the paw prints of 101 SALIVATIONS, Rachael Hale's 101 CATACLYSMS is a charming and playful tribute to the world's most popular pet. This collection features 101 images of magnificent felines. Hale's special rapport with animals has allowed her to capture the essence of her subjects. You will see it in the bald-faced cheekiness of Hilander, the sphinx; in the sassiness of Puffy, the Persian ball of fluff; and in the playfulness of Yabba Dabba Doo, the British shorthair. 101 CATACLYSMS also contains quotations from well-known personalities-such as James Herriot's ``Cats are the connoisseurs of comfort''-that will tickle the reader as they peruse this gem of a book.