Beautiful Country Towns England Rural Seaside Riverside Victorian Georgian Manor

Description

”The Most Beautiful Country Towns of England” by Hugh Palmer.
NOTE
:   We have 75,000 books in our library, almost 10,000 different titles.  Odds are we have other copies of this same title in varying conditions, some less expensive, some better condition.  We might also have different editions as well (some paperback, some hardcover, oftentimes international editions).  If you don’t see what you want, please contact us and ask.  We’re happy to send you a summary of the differing conditions and prices we may have for the same title.
DESCRIPTION:
Hardcover with dustjacket.
Publisher
: Thames & Hudson (2005).
Pages
: 208.
Size
: 12½ x 10¼ x 1 inch; 3¾ pounds.
Summary
:
An inspirational tour and celebration of some of the most attractive small towns in the English countryside. Complementing the best-selling “The Most Beautiful Villages of England”, Hugh Palmer has produced a stunning sequence of images of those ancient towns in which the true heart of England lies. All the places included here embody a long, pre-industrial heritage; they are also communities of a well-preserved beauty, widely visited by travelers from all parts of the world.
Twenty-five of the most beguiling small towns of rural and seaside England are included. Here are market towns that have traditionally owed their importance and prosperity to the agricultural land surrounding them, towns that grew up by river crossings, small ports harboring both fishing and trading fleets, centers of religious activity, and even spas.
The whole of England is represented in Palmer's delightful photography and perceptive commentaries, revealing how history, site, and the availability of local building materials have combined to shape the appearance of towns in different parts of the country. Darker stones lend a slightly forbidding yet noble air to the towns of the north, such as Barnard Castle. The eastern counties have a wealth of ancient half-timbered architecture, punctuated by buildings in flint and limestone, while to the west lie the honey-colored streets and houses of the Cotswolds.
Here, too, are towns formed by their social and cultural contexts—the elegant Georgian and Victorian houses of Buxton, Derbyshire, reflecting its heyday as a fashionable spa; the imposing terraces in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, an expression of its importance as a market town and religious center with a magnificent abbey.
A Traveler's Guide, listing places to visit, to stay, and to eat, helps both armchair and actual travelers enjoy even more a visit to England's delightful countryside. 260 color photographs.
CONDITION
:  NEW. New hardcover w/dustjacket. Thames & Hudson (2005) 208 pages. Unblemished except for faint shelfwear to dustjacket and covers. Inside the book is pristine; the pages are clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread, though I would hasten to add that of course it is always possible that the book has been flipped through once or twice while in the bookstore. There's no evidence that it was, but it always a possibility. From the outside the dustjacket and covers evidence very faint edge and corner shelfwear, almost non-existent except there is a 1/4" closed, neatly mended edge tear to the back side of the dustjacket at the spine head. We repaired that tiny edge tear from the underside of the dustjacket, it is not a prominent blemish. Notwithstanding the possibility that the book may have been flipped through once or twice, the condition of the book is entirely consistent with a new book from an open-shelf bookstore environment such as Barnes & Noble or B. Dalton, wherein patrons are permitted to browse open stock, and so otherwise new books might evidence faint indications of browsing and/or shelfwear. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 14 days! #8119a.
PLEASE SEE DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES BELOW FOR DETAILED REVIEWS AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK.
PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.
PUBLISHER REVIEWS
:
REVIEW
:  The whole of England is represented in Hugh Palmer’s delightful photography and perceptive commentaries, revealing how history, site and the availability of local building materials have combined to shape the appearance of towns in different parts of the country.
REVIEW
:  Twenty-five of the most beguiling small towns of rural and seaside England are featured, representing the whole of England: market towns, towns that grew up by river crossings, small ports harboring both fishing and trading fleets, centers of religious activity, and even spas.
REVIEW
:  Complementing his bestselling The Most Beautiful Villages of England, Hugh Palmer has now produced a stunning sequence of images of 25 of the most beguiling small towns of rural and seaside England.
REVIEW
:  Hugh Palmer, a leading British photographer of gardens and architecture, has contributed to numerous books including "Garden Ornament", "The Formal Garden", "The Water Garden" and volumes on "Provence", "Tuscany", "Dordogne", "Greece and the Greek Islands", "Burgundy" and "England" in "The Most Beautiful Villages" series. James Bentley is the author of "The Penguin Guide to Tuscany", "The Loire", "Life and Food in the Dordogne", "The Languedoc", "The Penguin Guide to the Dordogne", "To Live in France" and "Tuscany", "Dordogne", "Burgundy" and "England" in "The Most Beautiful Villages" series.
REVIEW
:  Hugh Palmer bought his first camera shortly after seeing "Blow-Up", the Antonioni film in which the legendary Italian director sought to explore the explosion of pop culture in 1960's London. The desire to follow the example of the film's photographer hero was the keener as Hugh spent the sixties incarcerated in a single-sex boarding school in nearby Kent. Hard academic graft got him into Oxford University, however, where he spent four happy years taking photographs for the University magazine and newspaper, when he wasn't keeping up with his Latin and Greek studies. A post-graduate year at the London College of Printing was followed by a job as a ship's photographer.
After jumping ship in New York, he worked as a photographic assistant in some of the top advertising studios there before returning to the UK to look for editorial work. An inherited love of gardens and the natural landscape led to his specializing in garden photography , illustrating many books on the subject and supplying most of the major UK and European magazines with images and stories for many years. A lucky break with the great art house publishers Thames and Hudson led to a series of commissions to photograph the best-selling "Most Beautiful Villages" titles, which took him to France, Italy, Greece and Spain, as well as around the British Isles. Following the sad death of his longtime collaborator on the series, James Bentley, Hugh took up the writing of the books as well as the research and photography. He now lives in Oxford, where he continues to write and take photographs, in addition to recent additions to his "career portfolio", as a counselor, trainer and teacher.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
:
The Northern Counties: Barnard Castle; Hebden Bridge; Howick Keswick; Beverley.
The Midland Counties: Chipping Camden; Bridgnorth; Buxton Ludlow; Ross-on-Wye; Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Eastern Counties: Bury St. Edmunds; Swaffham; Saffron Walden Stamford; Wisbech.
The Southern Counties: Alton/Alresford; Farnham; Faversham Hastings; Sandwich.
The Western Counties: Bradford-upon-Avon; St Ives; Totnes Glastonbury; Shaftesbury.
Map.
Traveler’s Guide.
Further Reading.
PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS
:
REVIEW
:  Over 250 splendid color photographs here reveal 25 of the most beautiful country towns in England. Palmer, who has contributed other volumes in the rewarding "Most Beautiful" series (including The Most Beautiful Villages of England), does a remarkable job of turning what could be tired views of oft-photographed towns into distinctive and appealing images. This is the England that American anglophiles dream of: picture perfect and redolent of history. The oversize format allows the many full-page photographs (of the magnificent west front of the Minster at Beverly, the expansive view of the harbor at St. Ives, and the double hammer-beam ceiling of a 15th-century church in Swaffham, in close-up) to shine. Palmer's text is limited to brief descriptions of the photographs and an introduction to each town, as well as a short traveler's guide listing places to stay and eat. Highly recommended. [Linda M. Kaufmann, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts].
REVIEW
:  Complementing his bestselling The Most Beautiful Villages of England, Hugh Palmer has now produced a stunning sequence of images of 25 of the most beguiling small towns of rural and seaside England. From the forbidding mien of Barnard Castle in the north to the honey-colored streets of the Cotswolds, from the elegant Georgiana of Buxton to the magnificent abbey at Bury St Edmunds, the whole of England is represented in a series of delightful photographs and perceptive texts.
REVIEW
:  A companion to The Most Beautiful Villages of England features lavish photography of twenty-five ancient, rural, and seaside towns selected by the author as definitive of English small-town countryside life, in a visual tour that discusses how history, location, and building materials have contributed to the development of English town life.
READER REVIEWS
:
REVIEW
:  My boyfriend is from England, and I have visited twice, and I can attest that it is every bit as beautiful as the images in this book! I love it, and it is on my coffee table. I can't stop picking it up! We are both making note of the places we will be visiting on our next trip. A lovely book!
REVIEW
:  I just ordered this book for myself after flipping through the book at a library. His other books on Italy and France are great. Beautiful photos and nice descriptions of the towns.
REVIEW
:  I miss England! This is a great coffee table style (oversized) book with vivid pictures and nice detail about those country towns that you might miss if you were a first or second time visitor and didn't know any better.
REVIEW
:  Looking for a book to give ideas on destinations for the perfect UK weekend break, I came across this beautifully illustrated and very informative hardback. My partner loves it and I have now bought extra copies as gifts. Highly recommended.
REVIEW
:  A guide to the most beautiful towns in England. Lovely photographs. Well presented. Would recommend it to anyone who is interested in traveling around the country to see the places.
REVIEW
:  One of a series to enrich traveling knowledge. Photos and illustrations are of highest quality. A book one does not get tired of viewing and reading and hoping to visit those villages in person.
REVIEW
:  This is a great book for occasionally remembering some of England's beautiful places, especially when bad weather keeps you struck in your own home. Bought as a gift for an elderly relative, this has brought her a great deal of pleasure.
REVIEW
:  I love this book - it brings back great memories of England and the photo's capture it beautifully.
REVIEW
:  Five stars! This book is beautiful and looks great on my coffee table.
REVIEW
:  Excellent pictures and information
REVIEW
:  Very enjoyable book, fabulous photography.
REVIEW
:  Five stars – truly a beautiful book.
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