Take a look at our excellent fall 2021 general interest books
Great gardens, cultural icons, modern manners and feathered friends all feature in our new general interest list this coming season
How do we regulate and focus our interests today, when the distraction business creates ever more addictive ways to steal every waking hour? Via Phaidon’s new general interest list, that's how! Cultural icons, horticultural experts, and witty modern mannerists have all shaped this season’s new books. Within these titles you can alight on an avian flight of fancy; delight in the great gardens and gardeners of the world, draw on the reflections of artists, actors and sportsmen; and discover the right way to be a modern godparent. In short: lots of useful knowledge conveyed both expertly and entertainingly.
Adding pithiness to the pitfalls of life, The Gentlewoman offers an intelligent perspective on the way women look, think and dress. This biannual magazine showcases inspirational women through its distinctive combination of glamour, personality and warmth. Now, those qualities are brought together in Modern Manners, a timely selection of thought-provoking, witty essays on contemporary conduct. The book is written by The Gentlewoman’s hugely engaging roster of writers, which includes Emily King, Eva Wiseman and Otegha Uwagba. Topics covered include godparenting, hosting, advice on the best legal drugs, the art of regifting, and the perfect way to write an out-of-office reply. Modern Manners is introduced and edited by The Gentlewoman’s editor-in-chief, Penny Martin, and maintains the same svelte design standards you’d expect from this highly acclaimed periodical. A great book for wordly wise young women, as well as those well into adulthood, Modern Manners is both a great guide and a wry reflection on life today. Order your copy here.
For over a decade the Berlin-based journalists Sven Schumann and Johannes Bonke have been interviewing some of the world’s most famous cultural visionaries. Every week the pair publish an interview and portrait with a leading creative voice of our times, via their online magazine, The Talks. Today The Talks has over 300 creative personalities from the world of art, film, fashion, literature and sports, covering topics as diverse as beauty, rebellion, sex and regret.
Now, those many, many hours of dialogue have been slimmed down to The Talks - No Idea Is Final, a 400-page book filled with quotes from the most important creative voices of our time. Readers can enjoy insight, advice and smart bon mots from a diverse concord of voices, including Bill Murray, Elizabeth Peyton, Guillermo del Toro, JR, Björk, LeBron James, Robert Longo, Tom Ford, Stefan Sagmeister, Vanessa Beecroft, David Chipperfield, and more. Fast paced, yet deeply insightful, this new book offers candid insight into the creative voices of our age. To find out more and order your copy, go here.
A good garden returns each year, though often looking slightly different from the year before. So, we felt it was time to bring back The Gardener’s Garden, our internationally bestselling inspirational resource for garden-lovers and designers, with a fresh new cover and new look, enabling it to reach and appeal to a whole new crowd of horticulture lovers. It still spans seven centuries, spotlighting more than 250 of the globe’s finest permanent gardens, all created by leading garden designers, horticulturalists, and landscape architects. It continues to bring these singular places to life via hundreds of sumptuous photographs and many descriptive texts by leading garden writers. It displays the guiding influence of leading authorities on the subject, garden designer Madison Cox, and Toby Musgrave, faculty lecturer in garden and plant history at the Danish Institute for Study. Yet it’s bold new jacket and design make it the ideal choice for those wishing to unlock the earthly pleasures of plants, time and place. To find out more, order your copy here.
Our newly updated edition of The Garden Book occupies slightly different territory. This Phaidon classic is an A-to-Z who’s who of the world’s finest garden-makers throughout history, spanning all styles and continents. The Garden Book takes readers from the first religious gardens to contemporary designer Dan Pearson’s heavenly new Tokachi garden in Japan, via many, many other great horticulturalists' works. Each entry illustrates a key work by the chosen designer, describing the garden, while also evoking their individual spirit and ethos. In short, it’s the essential reference for today’s gardeners, offering infinite inspiration to create their own signature spaces, whatever their landscape. Find out more and order your copy here.
Finally, following on from the success of our books, Map, Plant, Universe, Animal and Anatomy, Bird: Exploring the Winged World invites readers on a flight of fancy in a celebration of avian imagery, drawn from the worlds of art, science, history, and culture. Showcasing the remarkable diversity of species, from tiny hummingbirds to towering ostriches, via icebound penguins and tropical macaws, this extraordinary new book reproduces iconic and lesser-known ornithological illustrations and artworks of all styles. Each of the book’s double-page spreads shows a pair of thoughtfully paired juxtapositions, revealing how artists, illustrators, ornithologists, and photographers – from ancient Egypt right up until the present – have captured the spirit, likeness, character, and symbolism of our feathered friends. To learn more about this title, and order your signed copy, go here.
We'll be bringing you more news about our other releases - including our wonderful children's titles - in the coming days and weeks. Meanwhile for more information, and to see the full fall list, visit the store here.