An ancient hilltop fortress. A crusader citadel in the West Bank. A fairytale medieval castle fallen into ruin. From ancient times to the end of the nineteenth century, Abandoned Castles explores more than 100 forts, castles and defensive strongholds from all around the globe. From medieval Japanese castles to Spanish colonial forts in West Africa to...

With Watercolor the Easy Way, your watercoloring creativity is about to be released! Quickly learn the fundamentals of color mixing, brushstrokes, and more. Then move right ahead to success, thanks to a selection of 50 stunning pictures to paint. Best of all, the projects can be completed in 30 minutes! From beautiful botanicals and fabulous florals to...

Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi dominated the opera world for most of the nineteenth century, and his works remain a mainstay of theaters around the world. From Rigoletto's sprightly "La donna é mobile" to the rousing "Anvil Chorus" of Il Trovatore, the composer's music is known and loved by people who never set foot in an opera house. Now novice...

Children's picturebooks are the very first books we encounter and play a major role in introducing us to both art and language. But what does it take to create a successful picturebook for children? This revised edition of a bestselling title carries invaluable insight into a highly productive, dynamic sector of the publishing world. Featuring interviews...

A Vintage Shorts Original Selection

In an illuminating and probing conversation with renowned actor, producer, comedian and philanthropist Alec Baldwin, John Mauceri reflects on the enduring appeal of classical music, how he learned to lead an orchestra, his upbringing and how he became the acclaimed conductor and musical director he is today. Covering such...

Some nine million people from all over the world flock to the Louvre each year to enjoy its incomparable art collection. Yet few of them are aware of the remarkable history of that place and of the buildings themselves—a fascinating story that historian James Gardner elegantly chronicles in the first full-length history of the Louvre in English.

More than...

Kevin Flanagan was a 14-year-old schoolboy when he took his very first date to the ballet at the Royal Opera House in London.

The date was a disaster but Kevin fell in love with the magical world of ballet, and the performances of ballet’s most legendary partnership: Fonteyn & Nureyev. And so, began the journey to achieve an impossible dream – to be become a...

How can you search for oldies you want to hear when you've forgotten them?

Radio doesn't play a lot of those oldies anymore, even though you would enjoy hearing them again. This book offers you access to over 150 links to YouTube videos for Lost or Forgotten Oldies as well as history about the artists and their songs.

Here are some examples of the music...

Twenty-four traditional folk and blues songs and the music for each, so you can play these amazing songs.

Incuding: Chord-Boxes, vocal stave and tablature. Essential for guitarists wishing to expand their repertoire!

Including:

BARBARA ALLEN

BOLL WEEVIL

CANDYMAN

CARRICKFERGUS

COCAINE

DANNY BOY

DON’T LET THE DEAL GO DOWN

DRUNKEN SAILOR

GEORDIE

JESSE JAMES

LILY OF THE WEST

...

The first-ever comprehensive guide to creating wooden jewelry, learn and practice several woodworking skills - including jointing, turning, steaming, polishing, staining, painting, beveling, inlaying, and more - to discover a brand new art perspective! Combining wood with other media, from silver to silicon, you’ll create 20 beautiful and accessible jewelry...

Use Dingbatz to add flair to whatever you're working on—they provide a wonderful complement to any hand lettering, scrapbook, or art journaling project. Small enough to provide a sense of instant gratification when you make them, these "Zenbellishments" require few materials, making them accessible to all skill levels from beginner to advanced. This book...

Atlanta Underground presents a city history through the lens of its buried and paved-over urban landscape. Contemporary photos of this urban spelunking landscape will illustrate this telling of Atlanta’s history: how it came to be where it is, how it acquired its unique name, and how its colliding street grids were established.

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY BESTSELLER

"Dyson writes with the affection of a fan but the rigor of an academic. ... Using extensive passages from Jay-Z’s lyrics, 'Made in America' examines the rapper’s role as a poet, an aesthete, an advocate for racial justice and a business, man, but devotes much of its energy to Hova the...

As a pathway to happiness, Live An Artful Live offers an enlightened perspective on the benefits of immersing one's self into the activity of, and the appreciation for the arts and creativity. Learning how and why to live carefree, helps relieve the mental burdens of adult responsibilities. This fosters happiness, and personal growth, thus relieving stress...

Do energy-efficient cars have to be boring? Are green buildings necessarily unsightly? Is sustainability incompatible with beauty? Lance Hosey's answer is a resounding "no," and in The Shape of Green he argues that for far too long sustainable design has neglected aesthetics. If green is to fulfill its promise, it must be both efficient and appealing. Hosey...

This beautifully illustrated short e-book explores the idea that to create vibrant, sustainable urban areas for the long term, we must first understand what happens naturally when people congregate in cities—innate, unprompted interactions of urban dwellers with each other and their surrounding urban and physical environment. Wolfe elaborates on the...

Despite an uncertain economy, the market for green building is exploding. The US green building market has expanded dramatically since 2008 and is projected to double in size by 2015 (from $42 billion in construction starts to $135 billion). But green-building pioneer Sim Van der Ryn says, “greening” our buildings is not enough. He advocates for “empathic...

In the twenty-first century, cities worldwide must respond to a growing and diverse population, ever-shifting economic conditions, new technologies, and a changing climate. Short-term, community-based projects—from pop-up parks to open streets initiatives—have become a powerful and adaptable new tool of urban activists, planners, and policy-makers seeking...

NOTE: Because of its beautiful design and large file size, this uncorrected proof only includes Chapters 2-3.
Can nature—in all its unruly wildness—be an integral part of creative landscape design? In her beautifully illustrated book, Wild by Design, award-winning designer Margie Ruddick urges designers to look beyond the rules often imposed by both...

The best cities become an ingrained part of their residents' identities. Urban design is the key to this process, but all too often, citizens abandon it to professionals, unable to see a way to express what they love and value in their own neighborhoods. New in paperback, this visually rich book by Alexandros Washburn, former Chief Urban Designer of the...

Although the photographs are strong enough to stand alone as the main character of this delightful book, there’s another story: how a humble recluse who doesn’t even own a car has created an online community – a global neighborhood of young and old, male and female, many asking the same question: How does this guy do this?

Humans have always been influenced by natural landscapes, and always will be—even as we create ever-larger cities and our developments fundamentally change the nature of the earth around us. In Human Ecology, noted city planner and landscape architect Frederick Steiner encourages us to consider how human cultures have been shaped by natural forces...

“. . .thoughtful, beautiful, and enlightening...”
—Jane Jacobs
 
“This book will have a lasting infl uence on the future quality of public open spaces. By helping us better understand the larger public life of cities, Life between Buildings can only move us toward more lively and healthy public places. Buy this book, fi nd a...

What if, even in the heart of a densely developed city, people could have meaningful encounters with nature? While parks, street trees, and green roofs are increasingly appreciated for their technical services like stormwater reduction, from a biophilic viewpoint, they also facilitate experiences that contribute to better physical and mental health: natural...

What makes a great city? Not a good city or a functional city but a great city. A city that people admire, learn from, and replicate. City planner and architect Alexander Garvin set out to answer this question by observing cities, largely in North America and Europe, with special attention to Paris, London, New York, and Vienna.

For Garvin, greatness is not...

At its most basic, historic preservation is about keeping old places alive, in active use, and relevant to the needs of communities today. As cities across America experience a remarkable renaissance, and more and more young, diverse families choose to live, work, and play in historic neighborhoods, the promise and potential of using our older and historic...