Trees are the Earth's lungs, climate regulators, and habitat protectors. Ever since our prehistoric ancestors emerged from the forest of a drying Africa, trees have given us shelter, medicine, shade, food and fuel in abundance. Max Adams in his eclectic and beautifully written sequence of reflections investigates stories and tree profiles, both the extraordinary biology of trees and humanity's relationship with wood and forests across the centuries. He reveals why birch bark makes the best fire-lighter, why the fruits of the rowan must pass through a bird's gut before its seeds can germinate, and how the wood of the venerable yew tree ensured that the English prevailed at Agincourt. In his investigation of the Scots pine he looks at a palette of forests, life in the woods, St Columbus's Coppice, the rarest tree and Woodwards and Pallisters. He considers the axe, the adze and wedge, the first carpenters and Stonehenge decoded, he looks at the engineers, hormones, machines, hydraulics and bodgers. He looks at the charcoal age and colliers, how to spot an ancient wood, forest gardens and the seasons. Liberally sprinkled with woody quotations, pen and ink and woodcut images from John Evelyn's classic Sylva of 1664. 256pp, glossary. 19cm square.

As the publisher for Time Out, Peter Fiennes nurtured a lifelong obsession with old guide books, walking books and city guides and titles about Britain's countryside and seaside. Here he turns his attention to the golden age of Greek myths and how they crop up in novels, films and popular culture. But what's the modern relevance of Theseus, Hera and Pandora? Were these stories ever meant for children and what's to be seen now at the places where heroes fought and gods once quarrelled? Fiennes travels to the sites of some of the most famous Greek myths on the trail of hope, beauty and a new way of seeing what we have done to our world. He walks through landscapes both stunning and spoiled on the trail of dancing activists and Arcadian shepherds, finds the 'most beautiful beach in Greece', consults the Oracle, and loses himself in cities, villages and ruins of this storied land. 'A classical education for those of us who are bereft of one.' - Patrick Barkham. 294pp, line art and map.

The Chinese poetic tradition which dates back to almost 1000BC is one of the most cherished parts of the nation's cultural heritage. This collection of translated classical poems is presented in a beautiful gold foil decorated textured cover hardback with satin pagemarker. It is a stunning chronicle of Chinese life, culture and history, with vital and evocative imagery demonstrating why Chinese poetry was so inspiring to modern Western poets, particularly Ezra Pound and the Imagist movement. China truly is a country of songbirds and it was under the influence of Confucius's view that 'Poetry intones Aspirations that poets express their attitudes and philosophical inclinations between the lines.' The Tang Dynasty alone produced numerous great poets including Li Bai (Li Po), Du Fu (Tu Fu), and Wang Wei who stand out in this volume by quantity of selected poems. Organised by theme- Life and Nature, The Passage of Time, The Toll of War, and Love and Loss - beautifully designed and laid out, 160pp.

A William O'Connor painting of a mountain city with steep staircase, a Vincent Prace artwork of a city scene with dinosaurs being ridden by humans in Arab style costume, a cloudy cityscape with a chained monster head, a seaside village scene with fruit seller, shops and a knight on a horse which could be from a children's book, a huge dragon monster being slayed, a futuristic stylised castle on a rocky cliffside, a Zoltan Boros fantasy image of a street fight with medieval weapons, warriors riding griffin-like birds over a city scene, a shaded smoky forest, a tumbling city being attacked, a futuristic seaport - here are 12 rather random Dungeons & Dragons smoky subtle images and different city scenes from across the Forgotten Realms. 8" x 10" removable from the book on sturdy card.

In this classic study from 1919, the author introduces Celtic mythology with stories of the struggle between the older races of Partholon, Nemed and Fomor, who finally gave birth to the reigning family of Gaelic gods, in the same way as the defeat of the Roman Titans. The Gaelic Fomor were hideously deformed, the most terrible being Balor, who was only allowed to live on condition that an eye infected by poison was always kept shut. When Nuada and Dagda emerged as chief gods, Dagda fathered Brigit, still a familiar legendary figure and originally a goddess of fire and hearth. Mider was a Gaelic Pluto traversing the Underworld. Christian writers later tamed the pagan gods by incorporating their names as ancient kings and heroes into the annals of the country, and Finn, Fergus, Cuchulainn and Deirdre are some of the resulting myths. Apart from native British gods, others from further afield were brought into the pantheon by conquest, for instance Serapis and Mithras who arrived on Hadrian's Wall alongside the soldiers' Roman gods, or the unique goddess of war Nemetona celebrated in Bath. Celtic legend has come down to us primarily from the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but the exploits of Arthur, Guinevere and Sir Lancelot as described by Malory or Tennyson are far removed from their Celtic origins. Hades can be identified with Uther Pendragon, while the primitive myth of Pwyll resurfaces in the person of Pelleas. According to the Mabinogion, Pwyll, or Hades, had his court at Narberth in Dyfed, but when he drove off a giant stranger's beautiful hounds, he was compelled as penance to impersonate the stranger in his kingdom and household for a year, an underworld myth with echoes of the Gawain story. 303pp, paperback, line drawings.

Helene Guerber was an acclaimed expert on mythology in the Edwardian era, and her book on Norse Myths is a classic. Many of the Old Norse poets were natives of Iceland, where the priest Saemund created the collection known as the Elder Edda which ranks alongside the Sagas as one of the great works of early literature. Northern mythology celebrates the fight against darkness, for instance the abyss called Ginnunga-gap or the misty space known as Nifl-heim. Midgard, earth, was placed at the centre of this space, with the dwarves Nordri, Sudri, Austri and Westri at its four corners. Odin, the father of gods and men, had three palaces, of which the most famous is Valhalla, hall of the slain where, as in Wagner's Ring Cycle, the Valkyrs conduct the dead heroes. Frigga and Tannhauser are also names we find in Wagner, and the Volsungasaga includes the stories of Sigurd and Sigmund, but the myth also has other significant characters such as the White Lady Bertha. Odin is at constant war with the dwarfs, who manufactured a magic inspirational fluid from the blood of Kvasir, prompting Odin to don his hat and cloak to go out into the world in search. Stealing the mead from Gunlod by seducing her, he appropriated poetic inspiration for the gods, letting a few stray drops fall on humans. He frequently visited the Norns for their prophecies. Odin and Frigga gave birth to twins, Hodur god of darkness and Balder the Beautiful, who was not long for the world when Hodur enlisted Loki's help to slay him. The story represents the alternation of day and night, and Balder worship was long associated with midsummer. 301pp, paperback, line drawings.

Recognised as one of the foremost painters of Indian miniatures, B. G. Sharma has mastered the traditional styles of Kangra, Kishangarh and Mughal painting. From the kingdom of Ayodhya to the isle of Lanka, we are transported to a land that has inspired morality and spiritual tradition for thousands of years. Rama, the king of Ayodya, comes to life through Sharma's never-before-seen compositions of this classic epic mythological tale. Beginning with his charming youthful adventures to the battle with the demon Ravana, Sharma captures the spirit and sentiment of all Rama's friends and companions, from his intimate devotee Hanuman to his loving Queen, Sita. Chapters include Messenger from Vishnu, King Dasharath with His Four Sons, The Wedding of Sita and Rama, Kaikeyi Demands the Exile of Rama, Guha, Tribal Chief Greets the Exiles, and we meet sages, go into forest life inside the cottage at Panchavati, enter the Monkey Kingdom, Sita's Ordeal by Fire and the Final Episode. 144 very large pages, 30.48cm squared, very glossy paper and high quality stunningly beautiful colour throughout, abridged text for art lovers, younger readers and a fine introduction for general readers.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.

Jack and the Beanstalk, The Magic Bird, The One-Inch Prince, The Billy Goats Gruff, The Brave Little Tailor, Hop-On-My-Thumb, Theseus and the Minotaur, The Giant Princess, The Princess and the Ogre, and The Valley of Diamonds retold by Sam Baer and others for preschoolers. Bursting with funny and fantastic characters from all around the world including stomping giants, angry ogres, a very greedy troll and a snorting, snarling minotaur lurking in a labyrinth. Boldly coloured appealing new illustrations decorate every page with text wrapped around in fairly large print on bright white quality heavyweight paper in an impressive and collectable hardback of 144 pages with satin pagemarker. Ages 5-8.

We have just read in the Bristol Post this week that a woman left her teaching job to become a professional mermaid! Maids of the sea, sprung from ancient fish gods, reborn from the tragedy of forbidden love, combined with a seductive power of the half-bird sirens who sang to Odysseus, and a warning against temptation in the Middle Ages, today mermaids exist as everything from birthday party entertainment to a reclaimed site of political and particularly feminist power. Throughout history, everything from manatees and sea-cows to skate and seal have been mistaken for beautiful mermaids. Believed to cure asthma and earache, and warn of danger, here is everything you could ever want to know about these mythical creatures and their aquatic lore. From around the seven seas from Latvia and Iran to Haiti and Estonia, here is the mermaid throughout history and the many names they have been known by like kelpie, nix, sylphe, undine and water nymph and how if they traded their fins for life on land their lifespan would shorten dramatically, they would give up their voices and their tails and in return would be granted terrestrial romance or perhaps even a soul. Beautifully decorated coloured pages with over 100 spectacular artworks. 224pp.

The book quite literally opens with a triple gatefold, a beautiful artwork with short text telling an ancient tale where underneath a river lives a beautiful goddess using ancient stylised Chinese depictions, the noble train of horses and porters approached the mountain of Jing. In pale greens for lush grass, the mermaid figure has a green fish-scale back, an alluring goddess. "She's a light as a swallow in flight and as supple as a flying dragon. Her face is even more radiant than the chrysanthemums that bloom in autumn..." Another five page gatefold then unfurls in an exquisite Chinese artwork foldout showing the beautiful goddess decorated with fine jade and gold, she skips as she walks here and there picking flowers and magically plucks out reishi mushrooms. We are told that these were used for medicinal purposes throughout China. There are stylised carp fish with beautifully decorated scales, waterlilies peeping up with eyes at the surface, tendrils of flowers and swirling water. "My heart was filled with love, but at the same time I was afraid of being tricked." This ancient Chinese poem was created by Caoz Zhi in the period 220-280CE. He is returning from the capital to his own land when he stops at the Luo River for a rest where he instantly falls in love with the goddess. He sees a nymph of peerless beauty and is swept away by her ethereal beauty. We follow the dreamlike journey and even more four-page gatefold pullout pages in a truly entrancing tale. There are more gatefolds with six dragons in a procession and whales and the magic continues over all 78 very large colourful pages, 29.2 x 29.4cm. Designed for ages 9-12, this is more likely to be collected by interested adults. There is an explanation of all the mythical creatures at the end such as Nüwa and Bluefish and Yanzi. Colour.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.