Book picks similar to
National Geographic Spectacle: Rare and Astonishing Photographs by National Geographic Society
photography
non-fiction
nonfiction
art
Vanishing: The World's Most Vulnerable Animals
Joel Sartore - 2019
The animals featured in these pages are either destined for extinction or already extinct in the wild but still alive today, thanks to dedication of a heroic group committed to their continued survival. From the majestic Sumatran rhinoceros to the tiny Salt Creek tiger beetle.Sartore singles out the species most likely to disappear in the next decades, as well as some that have already been lost. Alongside these images are the words of scientists and conservationists who are working to protect and restore populations of endangered species.
Eye to Eye
Frans Lanting - 1997
More than 140 photographs, made over a period of twenty years, reveal the unique personal aesthetic Frans Lanting brings to wildlife photography, as well as the startling new perspective on animals his images provoke. In a review of his work The New York Times states, "Mr. Lanting's photographs take creatures that have become ordinary and familiar and transform them into haunting new visions."This book's exquisite images are accompanied by personal stories and observations from a lifetime of working with wild animals around the world, ranging from orangutans in the rain forests of Borneo to emperor penguins in Antarctica. More than 70 species are represented in this astonishing portrait gallery celebrating the diversity of life on earth.Frans Lanting does not seek in these encounters the beauty traditionally revered by wildlife photographers: "The perfection I seek in my photographic compositions is a means to show the strength and dignity of animals in nature." Frans Lanting's work has been lauded by designers as art, by biologists as science, and by others as a new vision of the relationship between animals and people - one that challenges us to look animals in the eye and see ourselves.
A Woman's World: True Stories of Life on the Road
Marybeth Bond - 1995
The first special edition in the Travelers' Tales series, A Woman's World brings together more than 50 contemporary voices in which women tell their tales, offer pearls of advice and warning, and share their dreams and ambitions with fellow travelers.
National Geographic Rarely Seen: Photographs of the Extraordinary
Susan Tyler Hitchcock - 2015
Shot by some of the world's finest photographers, New York Times bestseller Rarely Seen features striking images of places, events, natural phenomena, and manmade heirlooms seldom seen by human eyes. It's all here: 30,000-year-old cave art sealed from the public; animals that are among the last of their species on Earth; volcanic lightning; giant crystals that have grown to more than 50 tons; the engraving inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. With an introduction by National Geographic photographer Stephen Alvarez, whose work has taken him from the Peruvian Andes to the deepest caves of Papua New Guinea, Rarely Seen captures once-in-a-lifetime moments, natural wonders, and little-seen objects from the far reaches of the globe.
Dog Days of History: The Incredible Story of Our Best Friends
Sarah Albee - 2018
Throughout the course of human history, this partnership deepened from dogs doing a service into friendship. Dogs have been by our side through it all, and this book tracks our common story from wild wolves in ancient civilizations to modern-day breeds, highlighting famous pooches of the past and present along the way.
The Great Cities in History
John Julius Norwich - 2009
The implications and challenges associated with this fact are enormous. But how did we get here?From the origins of urbanization in Mesopotamia to the global metropolises of today, great cities have marked the development of human civilization. The Great Cities in History tells their stories, starting with the earliest, from Uruk and Memphis to Jerusalem and Alexandria. Next come the fabulous cities of the first millennium: Damascus and Baghdad, Teotihuacan and Tikal, and Chang’an, capital of Tang Dynasty China. The medieval world saw the rise of powerful cities such as Palermo and Paris in Europe, Benin in Africa, and Angkor in southeast Asia. The last two sections bring us from the early modern world, with Isfahan, Agra, and Amsterdam, to the contemporary city: London and New York, Tokyo and Barcelona, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo.The distinguished contributors, including Jan Morris, Michael D. Coe, Simon Schama, Orlando Figes, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Misha Glenny, Susan Toby Evans, and A. N. Wilson, evoke the character of each place—people, art and architecture, government—and explain the reasons for its success.
The Art of the Tale: An International Anthology of Short Stories, 1945-1985
Daniel Halpern - 1986
Eighty-one masterpieces by the world's best writers a surprising, irresistible collection of short stories from around the world."
Full Circle
Michael Palin - 1997
In Full Circle, Palin and a film crew go on a year-long adventure visiting 18 countries along the Pacific Rim. The film was eventually made into a 10-part PBS series, to which this book serves as a companion. Not for nothing is this part of the world called the "Ring of Fire"; volcanoes punctuate the landscape, and Palin even climbs one still smoking from a recent eruption. But the difficult landscape is only one challenge in this at times hair-raising, at times hilarious, always fascinating journey around the world's largest ocean. In the Philippines, Palin witnesses "psychic surgery": on the Urubamba River, Palin simultaneously clings for his life to a dugout canoe as he shoots the rapids and keeps up with England's progress in the World Cup via shortwave radio. Whether he's visiting a Gulag camp in Siberia or chowing down on maggots in Mexico, Palin meets the challenges of rough travel with grace, courage, and more than a little humor. Full Circle is fun to read, includes many color photographs from Palin's adventures, and makes a terrific addition to the armchair traveler's bookshelf.
Miles from Nowhere
Barbara Savage - 1983
Miles From Nowhere is an adventure not to be missed!Along the way, these near-neophyte cyclists encountered warm-hearted strangers eager to share food and shelter, bicycle-hating drivers who shoved them off the road, various wild animals (including a roof ape and an attack camel), sacred cows, rock-throwing Egyptians, overprotective Thai policeman, motherly New Zealanders, meteorological disasters, bodily indignities, and great personal joys. The stress of traveling together constantly for two years tested and ultimately strengthened the young couple's relationship.Author Barbara Savage died from head injuries suffered in a cycling accident while she was training for a triathlon competition. This book stands as a tribute to her physical courage, spiritual strength, and loving, good-humored encounter with the world.
101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die
Ian Buxton - 2010
It is not an awards list. It is not a list of the 101 'best' whiskies in the world in the opinion of a self-appointed whisky guru. It is simply a guide to the 101 whiskies that enthusiasts must seek out and try in order to complete their whisky education. Avoiding the deliberately obscure, the ridiculously limited and the absurdly expensive, whisky expert Ian Buxton recommends an eclectic selection of old favourites, stellar newcomers and mystifyingly unknown drams that simply have to be drunk.The book decodes the marketing hype and gets straight to the point; whether from India, America, Sweden, Ireland, Japan or the hills, glens and islands of Scotland, here are the 101 whiskies that you really want. This is a desert island list of whiskies - fully revised and updated in the light of the industry's constant need to keep changing things!Try them before you die - Slainte!
Best European Fiction 2011
Aleksandar HemonHilary Mantel - 2010
The launch of Dalkey’s Best European Fiction series was nothing short of phenomenal, with wide-ranging coverage in international media such as Time magazine, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, and the Guardian; glowing reviews and interviews in print and online magazines such as the Believer, Bookslut, Paste, and the Huffington Post; radio interviews with editor Aleksandar Hemon on NPR stations in the US and BBC Radio 3 and 4 in the UK; and a terrific response from booksellers, who made Best European Fiction 2010 an “Indie Next” pick and created table displays and special promotions throughout the US and UK.For 2011, Aleksandar Hemon is back as editor, along with a new preface by Colum McCann, and with a whole new cast of authors and stories, including work from countries not included in Best European Fiction 2010.UK, WALES: Wiliam Owen Roberts, The ProfessionalsUK, ENGLAND: Hilary Mantel, The Hearts Fails without WarningTURKEY: Ersan Üldes, Professional BehaviorSWITZERLAND: Verena Stefan, Doe a DeerSPAIN (Catalan): Mercè Ibarz, Nela and the VirginsSPAIN (Castilian): Enrique Vila-Matas, Far From HereSLOVENIA: Drago Jančar, The ProphecySERBIA: Vladimir Arsenijević, One Minute: Dumbo’s DeathRUSSIA: Andrei Gelasimov, The Evil EyeROMANIA: Lucian Dan Teodorovici, Goose ChasePORTUGAL: Gonçalo Manuel Tavares, Six TalesPOLAND: Olga Tokarczuk, The Ugliest Woman in the WorldNORWAY: Frode Grytten, Hotel by a RailroadNETHERLANDS: Manon Uphoff, DesireMONTENEGRO: Ognjen Spahić, Raymond is No Longer with Us—Carver is DeadMOLDOVA: Iulian Ciocan, Auntie FroseaMACEDONIA: Blaže Minevski, Academician Sisoye’s Inaugural SpeechLITHUANIA: Danutė Kalinauskaitė, Just ThingsLIECHTENSTEIN: Stefan Sprenger, DustLATVIA: Nora Ikstena, Elza Kuga’s Old-Age DementiaITALY: Marco Candida, Dream DiaryIRELAND (Irish): Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, TrespassesIRELAND (English): Kevin Barry, Doctor SotICELAND: Kristín Eiríksdóttir, Holes in PeopleHUNGARY: László Krasznahorkai, The BillGERMANY: Ingo Schulze, Oranges and AngelGEORGIA: Zurab Lezhava, Sex for FridgeFRANCE: Eric Laurrent, American DiaryFINLAND: Anita Konkka, The ClownESTONIA: Toomas Vint, Beyond the Window a Park is DimmingDENMARK: Peter Adolphsen, Fourteen Small StoriesCZECH REPULIC: Michal Ajvaz, The Wire BookCYPRUS: Nora Nadjarian, ExhibitionCROATIA: Mimi Simić, My GirlfriendBULGARIA: Alek Popov, PlumbersBOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: Goran Samardžić, VarneeshBELGIUM: François Emmanuel, Lou DancingBELARUS: Victor Martinovich, TabooAUSTRIA: Dieter Sperl, Random WalkerALBANIA: Arian Leka, Brothers of the Blade
Alternate Histories of the World
Matthew Buchholz - 2013
Learn how a mechanical man helped write America’s Declaration of Independence. Track the course of the Living Dead virus from Africa to Europe and on to the New World. View artifacts from our uneasy alliance with the Martian race, or simply delight in the vibrant colors and illustrations from a bygone age. More than 100 full-color images and insightful essays make this book an essential addition to the libraries of dedicated historians as well as casual fans of monsters and mayhem.
The Bone Man of Benares: A Novel Based on a True Story
Terry Tarnoff - 2004
This account of his revelatory journey is a tumultuous love story, a spiritual odyssey, and a rollicking escapade all rolled up into one. Tarnoff is a fevered, risk-taking writer with an uncanny ability to render place. The Bone Man of Benares is a lunatic bird of a book, flapping, singing, soaring, often all at the same time. It's a wild-hearted celebration of cross-cultural discovery, a laugh-out-loud, delirious adventure that traverses the chasm of time, speaking to readers young and old about the universal need for connection.
Coffee: The Epic of a Commodity
Heinrich Eduard Jacob - 1934
This classic follows coffee's journey around the world, from London to Brazil, telling in fascinating detail and amusing anecdote the singular history of the legendary commodity, from its discovery that chewing on the beans were keeping goats awake in Yemen to the author’s own experiences with the bean in 1935.Referred to as a “documentary novel” back during its inception, H.E. Jacobs pioneered the concept of creative nonfiction, combining the reality of nonfiction with the epic presentation and prose of fiction. This genre exploded into popularity and remains so today. Coffee tells the story of this popular beverage in short, fun to read essays that will entertain anyone that enjoys a good, strong cup of coffee.
Ox Travels: Meetings with Remarkable Travel Writers (Ox Tales)
Mark Ellingham - 2011
Introduced by Michael Palin, OxTravels features original stories from twenty-five top travel writers, including Michael Palin, Paul Theroux, Sara Wheeler, William Dalrymple, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Lloyd Jones, Rory Stewart, Jan Morris, Dervla Murphy, Rory MacLean, and others. Each of the stories takes as its theme a meeting - life-changing, affecting, amusing by turn - and together they transport readers into a brilliant, vivid atlas of encounters.This extraordinary collection is published in aid of Oxfam and all royalties from the book will support Oxfam's work.