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“In today’s ego-techno-centred world, Robert Somerville’s . . . Barn Club approach is a way forward that utilizes local traditions, local materials, and local hands to create a built environment that is more harmonious with the natural world and of course more beautiful.”—Jack A. Sobon, architect, timber framer, and author of Hand Hewn “Somerville knows more about wooden barn construction than almost anyone alive.”—The Telegraph Natural history meets traditional hand craft in this celebration of the elm tree and community spirit. When renowned craftsman Robert Somerville moved to Hertfordshire in southern England, he discovered an unexpected landscape rich with wildlife and e...
A collection of short, simple poems which present images relating to trees in various circumstances and throughout the seasons.
The 1950s were the golden years of haute couture, captured by iconic images of glamorous models wearing dramatic clothes. Yet the real women who wore these clothes adapted them to suit their own tastes, altered them to extend their life, and often could not bear to part with them long after the dresses had outlived their use. This gorgeously illustrated book demonstrates why so many of these designs are still in existence and why we are fascinated by them fifty years later. Couture and Commerce investigates how and why postwar couture fashion was important in its own day. The Paris couture houses survived due to the enthusiasm of the North American fashion press and commercial buyers. Alexan...
A humorous and informative book, debunking a range of commonly held myths about animals. Camels store water in their humps and magpies love to steal shiny objects. Or do they? A must-read in the Everything you Know series, this book debunks a range of old-cod stories about animals in author Matt Brown's inimitable humorous and fascinating style. Covering everything from the myth that lemmings throw themselves off cliffs in suicide (they don't, but on occasion some just fall off) to the one about bats being blind (they're not, and they can see but use the more sophisticated echolocation for certain hunting). From head in the sand ostriches to cats landing on their feet, a wealth of information on our beloved pets to creepy crawlies and wild giants, this book will set the marvel of the animal word straight. Plus, there are special features on the odd diets of animals and how wrongly they are portrayed in the movies. All the old stories and myths about animals we've had since childhood are gleefully debunked in a hugely entertaining book.
A fascinating and beautifully illustrated volume that explains what street trees tell us about humanity’s changing relationship with nature and the city Today, cities around the globe are planting street trees to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, as landscape historian Sonja Dümpelmann explains, this is not a new phenomenon. In her eye-opening work, Dümpelmann shows how New York City and Berlin began systematically planting trees to improve the urban climate during the nineteenth century, presenting the history of the practice within its larger social, cultural, and political contexts. A unique integration of empirical research and theory, Dümpelmann’s richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street trees—variously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and more—reflect the changing relationship between humans and nonhuman nature in urban environments. Offering valuable insights and frameworks, this authoritative volume will be an important resource for years to come.
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The word "jazz" did not appear in print until around 1915 and was only grudgingly admitted into polite discourse.The Language of Jazzexplores the vocabulary that has grown up around it. It includes words unique to jazz (bebop, Dixieland, ragtime); ordinary words with specific jazz meanings (cool, jam, stride); musical terms adopted by jazz (bar, rhythm, swing); instruments associated with jazz (alto, clarinet, trombone); nicknames of outstanding musicians (Bird, Duke, Satchmo); place-names linked to movements in jazz (Chicago, Harlem, Storyville); record labels (Dial, Okeh, Savoy); and notable venues (Birdland, Cotton Club, Blue Note, Minton's). Neil Powell's book is for jazz lovers and provides for the unconverted, too, a witty, informative tour of the subject.