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(Photo credit: Bloomsbury Publishing)

Can an architect really design a space that would encourage you to kiss? Leo Hollis certainly believes so in his, ‘Cities are Good for You : the Genius of the Metropolis’.

As the world urban population grows, Hollis believes that city life may actually help us to solve some of our greatest problems. His hope is that the increasing movement to cities could make us greener, better able to share our increasingly limited resources and may even make us happier.

Hollis does admit that there are many problems to be resolved in city life. Slums are on the increase and the gap between rich and poor is also growing. In many areas, there has also been dramatic decline in community life.

This is ultimately, however, a positive book about urban life. Hollis’s anecdotes from his travels to cities around the world are hopeful and inspiring. He believes that by reinvigorating communities and by thinking more about how people relate to one another when designing spaces, urban life can be much improved. If we can build a city in such a way to influence how we feel and behave, it certainly gives us hope for the future and you never know – it may just make people want to kiss.

Please see our catalogue if you’d like to find further details of Cities are Good for You.

(Photo credit: Bloomsbury)

Much has been written about the First World War writers and poets but what of the writers of the Second World War? Lara Fiegel’s ‘The Love-Charm of Bombs’ gives a new and original view of the Second World War as she looks at the impact of the Home Front on the lives and works of five famous writers of the time.

• Elizabeth Bowen
• Graham Greene
• Rose Macaulay
• Hilde Spiel
• Henry Yorke (writing as Henry Spiel)

These writers were at the heart of the London Blitz. They were on the front-line, coping with bombing, fighting fires, driving ambulances and working for the Ministry of Information. They were also looking after loved ones, finding love and experiencing loss.

At this time of intense emotion, as every aspect of life was altered by war, Graham Greene and his contemporaries provide us with their own unique view of the War in their deeply moving and haunting stories.

Using letters, diaries, official defence records and fiction, Fiegel charts the story of Wartime London, Post-War Vienna and Berlin through the eyes of these authors and in doing so, provides us with a very different view of the Second World War and Post-War Europe.

You can find further details of The Love-Charm of Bombs : Restless Lives in the Second World War on our catalogue.

Susan Cain champions the Introverts of the world in her bestselling, thought-provoking book ‘Quiet’.

It is argued that those of a quieter disposition are less valued by today’s society. Cain believes that there is a real pressure on people to conform to an ‘Extrovert Ideal’.

Yet, as Cain argues, many of the world’s greatest ideas, creations and inventions, came from those who are reflective in nature. The Theory of Relativity, Chopin’s Nocturnes and even Charlie Brown were the work of introverts.

Cain puts forward that the naturally quiet, sensitive thinkers of the world have much to offer and explains how they can take advantage of their skills. Real-life stories feature, including the author’s own personal experience as an Introvert in a top law firm.

The result is a fascinating insight into the personality traits of both the Introverted and Extroverted. It also carries an empowering message for those who are quiet, that they are perfectly justified to be how they are.

You can find further details of Quiet : the Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking on our catalogue

(Photo credit: Salt Yard Books)

The world has celebrated the City of London as host of the Olympic Games over the past few weeks. Yet, the Gentle Author has been doing this for nearly three years in his/her daily blog of Spitalfields. Every day, a new local character or place becomes the subject of this fascinating Blog. This chronicle of East End London life has now been published in the form of a beautifully illustrated book, ‘Spitalfields Life’.

The book is a treasure trove of social history and for those who live in Spittalfields, it seems to really capture the feel of the place. You can prepare to meet some wonderful people and hear their fascinating tales including a sixth generation umbrella-maker, a fourth generation paper-bag seller, a window cleaner who sees ghosts and even the author’s cat, Mr Pussy, who was rescued as part of a litter from an East End street.

The Gentle Author has so far managed to remain anonymous. It seems that he/she believes that people, places and events of Spitalfields are the ones who deserve to be given their share of the limelight and this seems only to add to the special nature of this work.

You can find more details on Spitalfields Life (but not on the identity of the Gentle Author!) on our catalogue.

Have you ever wanted to find a Fossil, build a Den or forage for food in the wild? If you are keen to develop these skills, and more, then you may wish to take a look at, ‘Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being in the Wild’.

This practical book teaches us skills which were well-known by many of our ancestors but are now in danger of being lost. The authors advise us how to carry out the various activities and give us details of their experiences in attempting these themselves. Diagrams and detailed instructions allow us to clearly see how to try these tasks ourselves.

The authors additionally explain that by carrying out activities such as foraging for food, we are also given the chance to connect with the Natural World on a deeper level. These activities can allow us some peace in our often stressful lives. We are able to live in the present moment and properly see the wild world around us.

If you are encouraged to discover more, you can find further details on Skimming stones and other ways of being in the wild  on our catalogue.

(Photo credit: National Geographic)

The Census of Marine life was the culmination of a decade’s work to document the life in our seas. It had the goal of answering three basic questions: What lived, lives and will live in the world’s ocean?

In an attempt to answer these questions, 2000 scientists searched from pole to pole for all life, from the smallest microbe to the largest whale. The census discovered that the diversity of life in the seas is so high that while our knowledge is greatly improved, it is still not possible to make even a rough estimate of how many marine species there are.

In Citizens of the Sea, marine biologist Nancy Knowlton has collected the highlights of the discoveries of the Census of Marine Life. With some stunning photographs of marine creatures, from the easily recognisable to the wonderfully weird, Knowlton explores the key issues of the census: Why the diversity of ocean life matters, how we are changing life in the ocean and what we can do to keep the ocean healthy.

Using her lifetime of knowledge and experience, Knowlton focuses her book in easily readable chapters, on topics such as the homes, movements, social dynamics and conservation of sea creatures.

You can find more about Citizens of the Sea on our catalogue.

(Photo credit: John Blake Publishing Ltd.)

In 2006, Jonny Muir made a new year’s resolution to cycle the length of the country while climbing the highest peak of every county in the UK. The resulting adventure took him from Cornwall to Shetland, culminating in reaching the top of Ben Nevis 92 days later.

This 5000 mile epic journey is brought to life in Heights of Madness. Along the way Muir battles against the worst the British countryside can throw at him, from unexploded shells to herds of menacing cows and swarms of unrelenting midges.

This is a personal tale of an extraordinary journey, the kind of adventure that many of us would talk about but never dream of actually undertaking. Inspirational and unenviable in equal measure, the reader is taken over hills, moors and mountains and through sunshine and rain, as a passenger on Muir’s quest.

Jonny Muir has written a British travelogue with a difference. An adventurer at heart, his words are reassurance that escape from the 9 to 5 grind is possible, and we don’t have to go very far to find it.

You can find further details of Heights of Madness on our catalogue.

(Photo credit: National Geographic)

If you are one of the many people who were captivated by the BBC’s recent natural history series ‘Frozen Planet’, then this is the book for you.

Polar Obsession is the work of National Geographic wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen, and follows his quest to document the natural life of the poles.

Compiled over the last decade, Nicklen hopes the images in this book will inspire readers to care about the Polar Regions as much as he does, in the hope of prompting action to help avert the changes being brought about by global warming.

Born and raised on Baffin Island, Northern Canada, Nicklen is at home in the freezing temperatures and readily admits that arctic life is indeed an obsession for him. Taking these incredible photographs involved remote locations, getting up close and personal with the wildlife and diving under thick ice sheets. The result is some truly stunning images.

Some of his experiences are documented in detail, including a mesmerising and touching encounter with a leopard seal. Coupled with the photography, these descriptions bring the wildlife and landscape to life, transporting the reader to the unique places that are our poles.

This book forms part of our Graham Brown Collection of mountaineering and polar items. You can find out more about Polar Obsession in our catalogue.

(Photo credit: The History Press)

Purchased in the centenary year of Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole, this book focuses on one particular member of the team that perished alongside Scott in March 1912.

Edward Wilson was a naturalist, doctor and artist as well as an explorer, who accompanied Scott on both of his Antarctic voyages. Indeed, Wilson was the only officer to go with Scott on both of these expeditions. He served as a surgeon and zoologist on board Discovery 1901-1904, and was Chief of Scientific Staff on the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.

This biography by Isobel Williams is the first full account of the life of Edward Wilson and follows him from childhood through to his final days. He was an integral part of Scott’s team, not only in the vital role of medical officer. Wilson was the lead scientist and a meticulous researcher, his work, notes and collected specimens laid the foundations for many fields of Antarctic science. He was also a skilled artist and made accurate and detailed drawings and paintings on both expeditions, these were to be the last of their kind as photography soon took over as the preferred way to record voyages such as these.

This is a fascinating book that follows the extraordinary life of this Antarctic hero. Isobel Williams has written a detailed tribute to Edward Wilson which adds another layer to the story of Antarctic exploration.

This book forms part of our Graham Brown Collection. More information on With Scott in the Antarctic can be found in our catalogue.

(Photo credit: Cornell University Press)

The Eagle Watchers is a collection of 29 stories from leading eagle researchers, sharing their experiences in the field while studying these fascinating creatures.

The idea for the book was conceived by editor Ruth Tingay, while studying golden eagles on Skye. Her visiting parents were so captivated by the sight of the magnificent birds that Tingay realised that what she took for granted as part of her work, most people never experience or only experience as a once in a lifetime event.

The resulting work is a collection of stories intended for those of us who have never encountered an eagle, written by those who spend their lives with them. These are personal tales that did not feature in the authors’ scientific papers, and take place across the world from Scotland and the USA to Madagascar and New Guinea.

The book reads almost like a travelogue, covering six continents on the trail of 24 species of eagle. The species of eagle covered include the well-known bald and golden eagles as well as the more obscure such as the New Guinea harpy eagle and the critically endangered Philippine eagle and Madagascar fish eagle. The authors tell of their adventures in the search, containing diverse characters such as New Guinea tribesmen and grizzly bears.  However, the overriding theme is the passion and dedication of these people, who spend their lives studying the majestic eagle and striving for it’s conservation.

You can find more information on Eagle Watchers in our catalogue.