The Nippon Bonsai Association, Japan's pre-eminent voice of the bonsai tradition, introduces a collection of the finest bonsai pieces to be found in Japan today
- some of them presented to a Western audience for the first time. Over 130 full-colour & 71 black-&-white plates of priceless specimens with informative commentary provide a definitive tour of the bonsai world from a 15-year-old flowering cherry to a majestic 1, 000-year-old Yezo spruce. The notes for each piece offer insights into the balance, style, harmony, & overall aesthetic effect along with comments on the history of its cultivation at the hands of several generations of bonsai masters.
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Kyoto is recognised as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is also the repository of traditional Japanese culture: still very much alive here. Now, completely updated & revised, this lovingly written travelogue-cum-guidebook is for the traveller seeking to find the real Kyoto. The book focuses on the family establishments that have been active for generations. In the old shops & inns that continue to thrive on the narrow backstreets, the visitor may glimpse the old way of life. Here, a careful examination of action & deed will uncover treasures: the way a h&-crafted calligraphy brush is bound, a miniature garden tended, a bamboo basket woven. Long-time Kyoto resident Diane Durston reveals this hidden world. Dozens of maps & photographs amplify her vision. Never before have the traditional ways been introduced in such depth, with such care, in such a handy guidebook format. The old ways survive. Finding them is another matter... ...

Pillar boxes were first introduced into Britain at the instigation of Anthony Trollope, the novelist, who was also a Post Office surveyor. Although many letter boxes are ordinary, some types, such as those that survive from the 1850s, are understandably rare. This book describes & illustrates some of those from the Channel Islands, where pillar boxes were first introduced in 1852, to Scotl&, which has had its own design of letter boxes since the Queen`s accession in 1952, & from the heart of London to the depths of rural Wales & the Irish Republic. ...

Sheep grazing on Lord`s Cricket Ground, frost fairs on the Thames & rural scenes in Highgate & Notting Hill seem strange sights today, but a 17th-century view of Covent Garden is familiar enough to be recognized by any modern Londoner. This collection of images of old London

Includes:: more than 200 coloured engravings of the city & its suburbs ranging from 16th-century street plans to 19th-century engravings of the squares, markets, turnpikes & docks.

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Old Mac Dino`s farm is full of DINOSAURS! With a Stegosaurus stomp-stomping here & a Triceratops crash-bashing there, they`re causing havoc EVERYWHERE! What`s a farmer to do? A laugh-out-loud read for toddlers & fans of Old Mac Donald Had a Farm! With bright & fun illustrations from Ben Whitehouse, this brilliant new picture book is a hilarious twist on the classic nursery rhyme. ...

Old Macdonald`s farm is full of pigs, cows, sheep, hens & horses, but what he really loves is his COLOSSAL collection of vehicles! From bicycles, tractors & buses, to boats, fire engines & aeroplanes, there are LOTS of things that go on Old Macdonald`s farm, & the animals love to join in with the fun, too. Perfect for anyone who loves farmyard animals & vehicles. ...

Monsieur Goriot is one of a disparate group of lodgers at Mademe Vauquer`s dingy Parisian boarding house. At first his wealth inspires respect, but as his circumstances are mysteriously reduced he becomes shunned by those around him, & soon his only remaining visitors are his two beautifully dressed daughters. Goriot`s fate is intertwined with two other fellow boarders: the young social climber Eugene Rastignac, who sees a way to gain the acceptance & wealth he craves, & the enigmatic figure of Vautrin, who is hiding darker secrets than anyone. Weaving a compelling & panoramic story of love, money, self-sacrifice, corruption, greed & ambition, Old Man Goriot is Balzac`s acknowledged masterpiece. A key novel in his ” Comedie Humaine” series, it is a vividly realized portrait of bourgeois Parisian society in the years following the French Revolution. ...

A Septuagenarian Odyssey Simon Gandolfi has never been one to grow old gracefully & following two heart attacks he decides not to rest up, as many might, but to ride the length of Hispanic America on a 125cc motorbike. & why not? His wife may have plenty of reasons why not, but used to the intrepid septuagenarian`s determination to complete any plan he comes up with, she shrugs her shoulders & waves him goodbye. At 73 years old, Simon Gandolfi sets off from Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico to embark on a five & a half month journey culminating at `the end of the world`, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. For Simon this is a journey of discovery. Leaving behind the safety & sanctuary of friends & family, he is truly alone but along the way he meets & talks with rich & poor, old & young, officials & professionals, agricultural & industrial workers. This expertly written travelogue reveals not only the stories of those he meets, & his own, but also that of Latin America, its attitudes to itself, to the USA & the UK in the aftermath of the Iraq war & the realities of the poverty & endemic corruption throughout much of this continent. But whilst guide books often warn of thieves, corrupt police & border officials, Gandolfi writes of the incredible kindness & generosity he encounters, of hope & joy, understanding & new friendships, & ultimately, an old man`s refusal to surrender to his years. ` The journey begins tomorrow at 8 a.m with a flight from the UK to Boston. I fly Aer Lingus & have bought & will wear a green shirt & a Clancy Brothers Arran sweater in hope of an upgrade. I will be away from home for many months & I have a long long way to ride. Am I nervous? Yes. Scared? A little.` Simon Gandolfi, 18 April 2006 Outrageously irresponsible & undeniably liberating, Gandolfi`s travels will fire the imaginations of every traveller, young or old. ...

In this book, the fascinating cast of characters

Includes:: the French & Spanish explorers, Desoto, Marquette,

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Old Masters is Thomas Bernhard`s devilishly funny story about the friendship between two old men. For over thirty years Reger, a music critic, has sat on the same bench in front of a Tintoretto painting in a Viennese museum, thinking & railing against contemporary society, his fellow men, artists, the weather, even the state of public lavatories. His friend Atzbacher has been summoned to meet him, & through his eyes we learn more about Reger
- the tragic death of his wife, his thoughts of suicide &, eventually, the true purpose of their appointment. At once pessimistic & exuberant, rancorous & hilarious, Old Masters is a richly satirical portrait of culture, genius, nationhood, class, the value of art & the pretensions of humanity.
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