On the coffee table: books to sip a cuppa over in April
Maps, dog walking and French gardens; here's what to read in April - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
From canine companions to cosy country homes, here’s the books you should have on your coffee table in April
London for Dogs: a dog-friendly guide to the best of the city, Sarah Guy, £9.99, Ebury Press - Credit: Ebury Press
London for Dogs: a dog-friendly guide to the best of the city
Sarah Guy’s comprehensive guide to dog-lovers the city over reveals the top destinations to take your dog for a walk, a meet-up or a bite to eat. With over 120 ideas arranged around each borough, north London is well represented with pubs, cafes and restaurants which welcome canine companions as well as dog-orientated activity classes, groomers and boutiques.
Sarah Guy, £9.99, Ebury Press
Perfect French Country: Inspirational Interiors from Rural France, Ros Byam Shaw, �30, Ryland, Peters & Small/CICO Books - Credit: Ryland, Peters & Small/CICO Books
Perfect French Country: Inspirational Interiors from Rural France
French country homes have long been the inspiration for many a retreat in bustling London. In this book, Byam Shaw peeks into those rural homes which feature ancient beams and stone fireplaces, drawing inspiration from an unmodernised, undigitised age. Think of panelled rooms and pitched attics where rural dwellers laid their heads at the end of a day roaming the French fields. This is a work which celebrates the authenticity and joie de vivre of the French rural abode.
Ros Byam Shaw, £30, Ryland, Peters & Small
Gardens of Court and Country: English Design 1630-1730, David Jacques, �45, Yale University Press - Credit: Yale University Press
Gardens of Court and Country: English Design 1630-1730
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This work by David Jacques is the first comprehensive overview of the English formal garden in the hundred years from 1630. 17th Century gardens underwent many design innovations during the period, and this volume benefits from 300 illustrations including paintings and engravings which depict forecourts, flower gardens and cascades. The book relates the development of the garden to historical trends including the lives of the Protestant nobility and the domestication of the lawn.
David Jacques, £45, Yale University Press
The Island: London Mapped by Stephen Walter, �19.99, Prestel - Credit: Prestel
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Stephen Walter’s cartography is featured in the permanent collections of the V&A, the British Museum and the British Library. His detailed creations are both insightful and comic, with elements of the crass and satirical whimsy. This book includes posters of all 33 London boroughs that can be pulled out and displayed, enabling the reader to immerse themselves in the cult creations of Walter’s world that is the ‘island’ of London.
Stephen Walter, £19.99, Prestel
