The World at Night

Based on the e-content, I suspect the book will look gorgeous when it's released. The photographers who worked on this collection deserve a great deal of credit for capturing such stunning images that are both just downright humbling to look at and beautiful to behold.

The text, I felt, gave the right amount of information on the locations of the shots and the descriptions of the techniques used to capture the pictures without getting bogged down into too much detail.

Very lovely book.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Wow. I read this right after getting it, and it is excellent. The text is good, but the real star (ha!) is the incredible photos! They are diverse and world-class images. I defy any reader that doesn't think it lives up to its description to rate it lower than 5 stars. Highly recommended.

The photos in this book are amazing ! I have already added it to my wish list because I will need a printed copy of this book when it comes out,

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing with me 💚💚

This book makes me feel that my words could never, ever in a million years do it justice. This book is something that must be seen to understand the beauty within its pages. This is a must have for anyone interested in the world, in astronomy, in photography.

First, let us just stipulate that the photos are gorgeous. There aren’t enough synonyms for “beautiful” for me to write a coherent review, so let’s just state it as fact and move on. The photographs are from all around the world (25 different countries), and in every type of landscape. There are mountains and lakes, canyons and deserts. Stars, moons, eclipses, meteors. Cityscapes, countryscapes, buildings, animals and people. But in every single photograph is an amazing night sky.

There is information to read about every place you see, and what is going on in each photo. There is a section to tell you about each photographer who contributed to the book, and a very nice section on “How to Take Nightscape Photographs”.

Every time I glance back at the photos my mind just freezes up. You have to see it to believe it, and I definitely urge you to take a look.

So many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I can’t get enough of this book, and at 240 pages it will take me weeks to study each photograph. Definitely put it on your Wish List!

This book is filled with stunning photographs from all over the world of the night sky. While that may not sound interesting it is absolutely beautiful.

This book also has captions for the pictures about locations, how the photograph was captured,’etc. While this may be interesting to some ( photographers, students, for example) I just didn’t enjoy that part of it. It felt very nat geo and I just ended up skipping most of them.

Astonishingly beautiful photos I devoured the book every exquisite picture .Will be giving this book as gift to friends .#netgalley #quartobooks.

I absolutely loved the photography it was visually stunning, I wasn’t quite as interested in the techniques to achieve the pictures , but the phots alone just make the book worth it, just amazing

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is an absolutely stunning and educational coffee table book featuring beautiful photographs of the night sky from many different photographers around the world. They are arranged in chapters by themes and feature everything from light pollution to the Northern Lights to great landmarks to meteor showers.

I had a hard time reading the text that accompanied the photographs since the digital ARC I received had very small print and I had to zoom in and out to reach each paragraph. The text was incredibly educational and interesting too, and would make it a great homeschool resource to sneak in astronomy, geography, geology and more.

Because of the cost (retail is $40.00), I can't justify buying a copy for our home, but this is definitely going into my library reserve list. Highly recommended.

Amazing photos I really enjoyed looking at these amazing pictures. I feel that taking stunning night photos is a special skill and it takes a deeper understanding of the canvas being captured. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review and I'm so impressed.

The World at Night is a stunningly beautiful book! Not only are the photographs amazing, but I appreciate the information given with each photo (background of the site, technique(s) used to photograph it etc.) I will look at these photographs again and again and again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and White Lion Publishing for allowing me to view a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

A beautiful coffee-table like book. The photography is well done and the book is compiled expertly. Will recommend.

The World at Night is a book filled with beautiful photographs of the night sky from different parts of the world and info sets to go along with them. The photos taken are from various photographers throughout the world and the best part of the book was surely the instructions at the back how you can take photos like this yourself. This isn't a set of photos from amateurs, but photographers specialized in night time photographing and thus the photos are more like science and not just beautiful in their own sense. In a way I felt the texts were vain except for those captions next to the photos. The info side of the book was lacking and just wondering about the philosophical side of the wondrous world. This felt kind of cheap. Perhaps I wanted more of scientific approach.

I would have wanted the photos to take more room, to fill out the pages. Some of them were small and the text ate out the beauty of the photos, which was a shame. The photos were the reason I wanted to read this, but now I got insipid walls of text and too small photos in most cases. The book is still quite good of course, since well, the photos are awesome none the less. With slight adjustments this could've been even better and I wish it had been. We don't have enough books like this, so points for the topic of course.

Here is another delightful book on the night sky for me to gaze at - I could spend all day looking at the detail of each photograph.

The World at Night is split into six main chapters and then further sections which are:

One People, one sky - horizons, polar, stargazing
World Heritages - astronomy, natural, historic
Hidden Universe - reveals, moon, aurora, seasonal, southern atmospheric, satellites
Events that shook the world - eclipses, comets, meteor showers, conjunctions, atmospheric, aurora storm
Fragile beauty of darkness - above our lights, city skies, impact on environment
Dark sky refuges - reserves, national parks, near the lights, remote, world observatories.

Each chapter and subsequent section comes with an Introduction and each photograph from around the world has a paragraph relating to its location and features.

At the rear of the book is details of each of the contributing photographers, along with a short section on how to take your own photographs of the night sky.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

Review to come on 4th of November. Blog and Website.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I JUST LOVE books about nightskies. Seeing all the stars twinkle in the sky, even on places with tons of light is just so magical. And it gets more magical when you go to place without any lightpollution. I recently read a book like this from my library and so I was eager to start a new one, namely this one.

Note, due to the text being itty bitty on my ADE I couldn't read them. Instead I just focused on the gorgeous and beautiful photographs, and hot dang, those were gorgeous. The photographs are crisp and clear, yes this may seem weird, but I have had some photography books with photos being blurry/out of focus. But these were all just stunningly done. At times I wanted to touch my screen to see if I could go there.
We don't just see stars and moons and volcanoes erupting, but we also see the northern light, oh wow. I so wish I could go to those places.
There also eclipses, and I loved that one of Lofoten Islands. Comets and meteor showers also make an appearance and I was glad they were included. I saw one (or two) in August during the Perseids (I believe it is called that). Not more, as that would have meant getting up wayyyy to early for my body. :P Maybe one day.
And then there were plenty of other cool and gorgeous stuff that happens at the night sky.


Btw, it was a delight to see Venice again. My hubby and I went there for our honeymoon in July, and it was just so stunning.

Yes, this is one book I would recommend to all. Stunning gorgeous photographs of the night sky. If it ever gets into one of my libraries (though probably translated, urgh), I may borrow it so I can read the text.

Stunning photographs of the night sky accompanied with interesting and informative captions.

I loved reading this book. For me, the night sky has always been something that I've been fascinated by. Whether that be the stars, the aurora borealis, nocturnal animals, or just the feeling of being out on a dark night with crisp air, illuminated by the moon. I love it all. And if you're someone like me, I just know you'll love this book too.

Something I really liked about this book was the different sections. I thought the photographs were classified really well, and I really liked how they included a section on nightscapes taken in or near cities. Pollution is talked about a lot these days, but one of the most important and severe types is often overlooked; and that's light pollution. The photos in that section really show how light pollution affects our night sky, whilst still being very beautiful. Another aspect I liked is how informative the captions were; if you're a newbie to astronomy like me, you won't have too much trouble understanding and will definitely learn a thing or two! And I think you'll also be inspired to get more involved too!

My only issue with the book were captions being the wrong way on one of the pages which was a bit confusing, but as I read an advanced copy I'm sure this will be straightened out before being published.


I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

”But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don’t know how many people today have seen a night sky devoid of man-made lighting, which, of course, detracts from the natural beauty that can be found where night prevails. I don’t know how many people grew up in neighborhoods where there were such childhood delights in lightning bugs, or just laying under an open sky, enjoying that moment with a friend or loved one. I do know that when I moved from the part of New Jersey where I grew up, it was over 20 years before I saw another lightning bug, or went anywhere beyond city limits, where the night sky was awe-inspiring. And when I did, and when I remembered, it made me want to cry.

I wanted to read this because photography has been one of my passions since I was very young and my father bought me my first camera. And now that I’ve travelled a bit beyond my own back yard since my childhood, and acquired a camera or two, studied a bit more, I’m still in awe of these photographs, their beauty, and also the stories they tell.

I’ll never see some of these places, but it’s (almost) enough for me to enjoy them through the photography of others, and especially the photography of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo in New Zealand. The last time I was there I took photographs of the same church, but I wish I could claim to have taken the one in this book. It’s stunning, and yet it isn’t close to being the more stunning than the others. They’re all stunning. Beautiful. Works of art.

There’s a Bavarian castle in one with the sky filled with a swirl of stars, lighting the one side of this castle that is surrounded by massive trees - it looks like something out of a fairy tale. Many of these have an essence that reminds me of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, the stars in swirls in the night sky.

There is a serious side to this, which addresses the problem of light pollution and the affect it has on our planet, and beyond that, the skies above us littered with the remains of man-made objects now floating in space, polluting not only our planet but the universe.

Educational, as well as visually enticing, this is a lovely book for all ages to learn about our planet, and share some sights through photography that most have never seen.

The author, Babak Tafreshi, is the founder of the international organization ’The World at Night’, and was responsible for selecting and organizing the more than 200 photographs taken by more than 40 photographers who live in 25 different countries, making this an ambitious and challenging task.



Pub Date: 19 Nov 2019


Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC provided

Such a beautiful book full of amazing pictures. Really made me want to get out in the evenings and look up at the stars.

This was amazing! Each photo was phenomenal and I loved reading the tidbits about where it was taken and what stars/constellations and historical landmark are in the photo.

The book is filled with lots of information like the historical sites, astronomy and some about the photography skills used in the pictures. There were some photos of volcanic eruptions and generally just the night sky itself to name a few.

The best part for me, besides the photos of the moon, constellations and auroras, is that the photos are taken worldwide rather than from just one continent and the various astronomical events that happened.

Overall, this was an amazing read since I love reading and looking at night sky photos filled with stars and the moon. Each photo was full of details and were breathtaking.

I've always wanted to picture the night sky filled with stars but it is a bit hard when you live in the city and without any proper tools. This has motivate me to start researching more about which camera is the best for picturing the night sky and definitely will save up to buy it!

I think the only problem, if everything would stay the same when they print it, is that the font is too small. Otherwise, everything else is great.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

The moon, the stars and the heavens are all beautifully revealed against stunning cities and landscaped from all over the world. This wonderful book features the work of nearly three dozen photographers featuring a wide variety of photographic techniques. There's even a short section on how to take nightscape pictures at the end of the book. This volume fully captures the mystery and allure the night sky has drawn and held mankind's imagination throughout time. The mysteries of the universe may not be revealed but the timeless beauty and wonder will capture your heart.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fabulous coffee table book for any household, filled with fabulous photos f the night sky, if you are a photographer you would be twice blessed as some of the photos are dissected into how they happened. I just loved the locations, the colour and the man effects that can happen on any night, in any location, in any atmosphere and any weather in any night sky. Fabulous.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. The pictures in this book are amazing and the information is good and not too much. Great new coffee table book.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The photography in this book is absolutely stunning.
There is a great amount of information about each photo without it being overwhelming.
I'd definitely pick up a copy of this book for my bookcase!

This is a truly wonderful book and as a photographer, I appreciate the technical skills as explained in this volume. As photography edges towards cell phone images cranked out cookie-cutter like for Instagram, the need for titles like this grows among those who want to do more with their work.

I have been shooting night photography for 50 years in film and digital formats. I have never captured anything close to the astonishingly beautiful images here -- but so much can be learned from the text that I have hopes my own work in this area will improve dramatically.

Even without a working knowledge of photography, this book is well worth owning just for the beauty of nature so incredibly captured.

What a gorgeous book! The photos are amazing, and text is interesting and informative. This is a book to get lost in!

#TheWorldAtNight #NetGalley

I have always liked the idea of a book of photographs. My (late) grandfather once shared a treasured old copy of black and white photos with me by binding it anew and writing on it in the front flap (as well as censuring a few pics as elders are wont to do when giving kids western photos). I still carry that around with me sometimes, and the range of those pictures are very different, but they focus on people and expressions. Another shared time we had was talking against the night sky (it was in the middle of a city with lots of lights, and therefore most days we did not see much of the stars). This book seemed to be a combination of the two, so I had to check it out.

It is more than a book of photos, it is a book about those photos. The sections are divided unambiguously, giving us different versions of all the things that can be seen during the night in the sky. Many of them have fiddly information about how the picture was captured, and many are a series of exposures put into one frame. Capturing the night sky is an art, and this collection by various photographers comes with what was done to create the final picture. Although this might impress the people in the know because they would understand how difficult it was to come about, to a layperson with little to no understanding of the mechanics of photography it seemed a little superfluous. I liked the book and would enjoy owning a physical copy to browse through in leisure someday, but I did not feel as thrilled as I expected to go in. Maybe it was the expectation or the fact that I was looking at a digital copy with a limited time window for me to peruse through them. I would recommend this to those with even a passing interest in the field though since it might mean more to them than it did to me. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own inherent bias towards the night sky and to photographs in general.

Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of this book.

There are not many books surrounding the issue of night photography as I should imagine that it is very hard to capture a night scene without it looking fake. This book gives you the reality of a night sky with all it's beauty and no fakery. It is beautiful and should be in any photography book collection. We have purchased one for our college library. My only criticism is that the book was too small - to have some of these photos on a bigger scale would have been much better

Wow. That's about all I can say - WOW. The images within this book simply blew me away. Gorgeous and absolutely spectacular - you will NOT regret picking up this beauty of a book! The text is great, but the photos - they're simply incredible.

This is a stunning book of over 200 photographs of the night skies from around the world. It is filled with information on the sites these photographs were taken, as well as how elements within the atmosphere and the photography techniques where used to capture these images.
This would be a perfect coffee table book as well as a resource for any photographer or those wishing to learn more about this art form.

I've always enjoyed books that act as something of a picture book for adults where you can revisit the images over and over again and get lost within them. I was surprised by the diversity of pictures of "The World at Night" in this book. I think I had expected starry nights in rural locations and although there are those, this is such a window into a world that most of us never really look at.

Filled with beautiful photographs of The World at Night, this book also highlights some of the world’s most beautiful places. From Stonehenge to Red Square to Mount Everest, all the photos highlight the night sky. There are pictures of star trails and eclipse paths captured with camera wizardry. It is surprising how much color a camera lens picks up in an aurora that is not seen by the naked eye.

Whether you want to marvel at the pictures or perhaps take some for yourself, The World at Night has you covered. There is an explanation of how each shot was taken. In addition, there is a chapter explaining what you need to be your own astrophotographer. Plus a compelling section on how light pollution is ruining the feeling of awe and connectedness shared by mankind with our ancestors when gazing at a star-filled sky. 4 stars!

Thanks to White Lion Publishing, Quarto Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The World at Night is a stunning look at the night sky. It's so easy to take our nightly view for granted, and that is something that Babak Tafreshi wanted to change with writing this book. This novel features over two hundred photographs from all over the world, all featuring the stunning night sky from different vantage points.
Honestly, I'm overwhelmed by how much of an undertaking The World at Night must have been. Tafreshi somehow managed to get forty (more than) different artists together for this collection. And then they created additional commentary, insights, and other helpful information to accompany each and every piece.
I honestly can't say enough good things about The World at Night. It was wildly informative, while also being striking. This is a book you're going to want on your shelf, as it's relaxing to read, but also ready to fill you up with anything you've ever wanted to know about our beautiful night sky.

"Night hides a world but reveals a universe."

One of my recent hobbies has been the task of browsing NetGalley. So, one day, a couple of weeks back I stumbled across a book in the section 'Arts and Photography'. That book happens to be this one. I was so drawn to the book and the reviews underneath it tempted me. A collection of photos of Night Sky around the world? That's really tempting for a night owl! *wink wink* I requested it and thanks to the publishers, my request for approved. I am going to use the book's description here.

Bringing together the images of over 40 photographers across 25 countries, be astounded by the lights of the night sky in some of the darkest places on earth; discover the beauty of galaxies, planets, and stars; view great celestial events; and see some of the world’s most important landmarks against the backdrop of an incredible nightscape.
Babak Tafreshi, the founder of the international organization 'The World at Night', has curated the images in this collection—many of them previously unseen—to reveal the true splendour of the sky at night. A specialist guide to night-sky photography will help you capture your own gorgeous images of the heavens.
Commentary on the science, astronomy, and photography accompany stunning images organized by theme: Symbols of all nations and religions embraced by one sky of endless beauties, UNESCO World Heritage Sites at night, The Universe revealed through constellations, sky motions, atmospheric phenomenon, Aurora, and Images highlighting the beauty of dark skies away from light-polluted urban areas, Celestial events, from great comets to spectacular eclipses, Astro-tourism destinations, like ancient astronomical monuments and modern observatories

I enjoyed every essence of the book! Not only did it make my eyes orgasm by the wondrous beauty of night skies, but it also went on to give specific information on the photograph, on the theme in its entirety, on the photographers and insight on how to take a photo of the night sky including instruments to be used and editing. This book is genuinely the best collection of photographs! Babak Tafreshi has done an excellent job in curating this! There were times when I was so entranced by the beauty of the shot that I skipped reading the snippet of information and had to go back and read it! Every photo is magnificent, enthralling and of eye-orgasming quality! Right after I finished reading it, I went to just see the photographs and take it in. Even though I had already seen them, they didn't fail to surprise me with their regal beauty!

Definitely a worthy read! I am so damn sure that in-print this book might even end up making me drool over its pages. Haha!

Recommended: It is a perfect read for aspiring photographers and professional photographers, star-gazers: professional and interested, astronomers: professional and aspiring and anyone whose heart beats for the night sky!

I have never been star struck or been hit by a meteor thankfully. As a child, I was intrigued by astronomy, BBC TVs The Sky at Night, and the Apollo missions landing on the Moon.
This book however is beyond mean constellations and swooning in the light of a silvery moon.
It is literary grounded in the world we live; it champions the night sky we share across our planet and roots us in the ancestors who went before and established special sites in civilisations throughout our globe.
The book is a collection of historical locations all of which are captured with the night sky above. Each picture is a wonderful photograph both of the place but illuminating the world above the horizon. Many were taken to reveal the wonders of the stars and planets above.

This is a book for life. If you were to only borrow it from a library you would pay fines for late returns.
As coffee tables go; all are incomplete without this book. Each captured image could feature in a calendar. The text accompanying the photos make for interesting reading and make this such a special read.

I love the links to ancient people; the sense of time past in terms of light years and earthly archeology made me think we are all citizens of a small place.

I am lazy more than uneducated and yet that ancient people looked up and gained inspiration and knowledge an incredible fact. I also marvel about the romance of the moon as well as its physical properties. What is even better, apart from the wonder of the grand scale photography the facts shared about the atmosphere, light and wonders like the Northern Lights build my imagination.

So let’s not look down; feel isolated and ordinary. Let’s look up and embrace the past and face our future.