Bøger af Peter Whitfield

In this beautifully illustrated book, Peter Whitfield reveals some of the ways in which the structure of the universe has been conceived, explained and depicted. This new edition is updated to include a wider range of stunning maps of the skies in full colour, including imagery from the latest voyages of space exploration.

Condensing centuries of history into one volume, Cities of the World traces the historic form and special character of the world's greatest cities through a breathtaking collection of maps and panoramic views. Peter Whitfield focuses on more than sixty cities--from Athens to Brasilia, Washington to Moscow, San Francisco to Saigon, and Venice to Lhasa. He presents an extremely wide range of maps, historic prints, and photographs from many periods that show how the architectural form and the social life of our cities have been shaped--not only by their geographical setting, but also by religion, royal power, commerce, social ideals, and occasionally artistic vision. These images illustrate the historic heart of the cities: the ancient harbors, the hilltop fortresses, the encircling walls, and the houses, churches, and palaces that have been added over the centuries. For the armchair traveler or anyone passionate about the history of human civilization, this beautiful, unique book captures the richness of the urban fabric and reflects the collective memory of each metropolis. Cities of the World demonstrates how the city was linked to the birth and progress of civilization itself, how it has acted as a focus for ideas and technologies, arts and sciences, and even religious devotion. It shows the ways that some cities grew slowly into haphazard, unplanned beauties, while others were shaped by the will of masterful individuals. Whitfield chose the cities featured here not only because they are richly and beautifully illustrated, but also because they demonstrate a notion of spirit--an outward and inward uniqueness. Many of these historic maps have a pictorial quality that vanished long ago from the functional town-plan. Depicting the classical city-state, the medieval fortress, the baroque capital, and the industrial metropolis, the sumptuous illustrations in this book chronicle how simple outlines found on Babylonian clay tablets evolved into the stylized pictures of medieval times and spectacular bird's-eye panoramic views, finally culminating in the highly functional mass-produced maps of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Wonderfully evocative of the places they depict and the artistic tastes of their time, these maps shed new light on civilization itself, with all of its contradictions, shortcomings, energy, and aspirations.Copub: British Library

First Published in 1998. An exploration narrative can be a tale of adventure and endurance, a technical account of navigation and seamanship, or a political history of the overseas empires that were built up in the wake of the explorers. In New Found Lands, Peter Whitfield takes a different approach. By focusing on the maps that the explorers themselves used, Whitfield reveals how the both the explorers and their patrons understood their expanding world and their place in it, what they were seeking and how they thought they could achieve it, and how they integrated new knowledge into their evolving world view. The maps in New Found Lands present the geographical ideas of the time, making plain the power that came with increasing technical and geographical knowledge. They also serve as evocative and poignant reminders of the limited knowledge of these explorers. For up until very recent times, as these maps show, there have been areas of the world remaining to be explored and "new found lands" to discover. This lavishly illustrated book progresses chronologically, starting with the explorers of the ancient world, covering the East, the New World, the Pacific, Australia and the Modern Era. It will enrich our understanding of the voyages of discovery undertaken over the past 2000 years and will delight any map or history lover. Also inlcludes 150 color and black and white maps.

Zen Tales are classic philosophical stories adapted and beautifully illustrated for children. In this tale Grizzle Bear is not in a good mood. In fact he is angry. He bumps into Guru Walter who is sitting peacefully and happy. A story which shows how anger does not have to be accepted and can be rejected.

Zen Tales are classic philosophical stories adapted and beautifully illustrated for children. Everyone in this tale has an ice cream except Bruno and he cannot get ide cream off his mind. Eventually Bruno learns a valid lesson; he was happy when he forgot about the ice cream.

Ava sat at her desk, gazing at the board. 'Ava', said Mrs Cook 'Where are your glasses today?' Ava looked down at her school bag. She hated her glasses. Ava hates her glasses and sometimes chooses not to wear them, even when wearing them would help her read.

Traces the historic form and special character of the world's greatest cities through a collection of maps and panoramic views. This title focuses on more than sixty cities - from Athens to Brasilia, Washington to Moscow, San Francisco to Saigon, and Venice to Lhasa.

For more than three centuries Oxford has been the subject of fine illustrated books and engraved prints. The best of these historic prints are reproduced here to create a panorama of classical Oxford, offering an instructive and captivating view of Oxford through the ages.

This book shows that many of Shakespeare's locations may have had resonances which an Elizabethan audience would pick up and understand, and it shows how significant the geographical and historical background of the plays could be.

Over 100 important maps from the mid-sixteenth century to the present day are illustrated and discussed. London: A Life in Maps has been a bestseller since its first publication in 2006 and has now been redesigned and updated for a new audience.