Our Children’s Book of the Month for November is Illumipedia.
Discover animals, insects, dinosaurs and the ocean deeps with your three-colour lens as you explore the world and its natural phenomena like never before.
Bringing together content from five books in the iconic Illumi series, this new treasury spans the best of Nature, Oceans, Bugs and Dinosaurs – across six continents.
Our Map of the Month is the National Geographic Heavens – Majesty of the Night Sky Map.
Winner of the British Cartographic Society’s 2024 Stanfords Award for Printed Mapping.
Across time and culture, humanity has gazed at the Heavens and marveled at the beauty and mystery each night provides. This poster was included in the special space issue of National Geographic Magazine. This chart of the stars is an all-new compilation using the latest NASA data on star locations, constellation boundaries, asterisms, and deep-sky objects.
Continue reading Map of the Month: National Geographic Heavens – Majesty of the Night SkyLast week we hosted a wonderful launch event where we heard from writer and filmmaker Kae Bahar who introduced his fascinating novel The Good, The Bad and The Gringo, a captivating tale of a young Kurdish man growing up in Iraq, confused about his gender and Saddam’s cruel terror.
Finding Solace from Saddam’s terror in the world of Cinema.
Growing up as a Kurd in Saddam’s Iraq, Merywan feels he doesn’t belong to this twisted society, but finds inspiration and comfort in the magic world of cinema.
He secretly writes letters to his hero, Clint Eastwood, whom he calls Gringo, begging him to help him escape to America. As his plans are disrupted, Merywan is drawn deeper into a roller – coaster ride of savagery, passion, betrayal and heroism, which makes the movies he adores almost seem trivial by comparison.
Continue reading Author Talk: The Good the Bad and the Gringo by Kae BaharOur Book of the Month for November is Brilliant Maps in the Wild: A Nature Atlas edited by Mike Higgins, illustrated by Manuel Bortoletti.
From the publishers of Brilliant Maps, here is a cartographic journey through our planet’s weirdest and most wonderful phenomena.
We were delighted to welcome Philip Parker back to Stanfords on Thursday to talk about his new book History of Cities in Maps.
From ancient civilizations to modern-day metropolises, maps have played a crucial role in urban progress.
It’s always such an honour when Sir Michael Palin drops by to sign his books. The latest book by the former recipient of the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing, There and Back: Diaries 1999-2009, is the fourth volume of his bestselling diaries.
Continue reading Michael Palin: There and Back: Diaries 1999-2009It was a full house at Stanfords last night as we hosted a talk to celebrate the launch of the Slow Ways Pocket Atlas. The atlas creators Charlie Peel, Hannah Engelkamp and Daniel Raven-Ellison explained the initial ideas and the evolution that lead to the finished atlas.
On Thursday we hosted the second of our Table Talks – which include wine, delicious nibbles and fabulous conversation around the table, talking about all things books, travel and life journeys.
We were thrilled to welcome authors Tiffany Murray and Travis Elborough talking about Tiffany’s new book My Family and Other Rock Stars sharing stories, recipes, songs and experiences, a fun evening not to be missed.
Continue reading Stanfords Event: Table Talk with Tiffany Murray and Travis ElboroughWe had a moving and insightful event here at Stanfords on Wednesday evening hearing all about How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying with Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko and her fight for Ukraine and author and journalist Lara Marlowe.
Lara Marlowe first interviewed Lieutenant Mykytenko in 2023, for an article about women in the Ukrainian military for The Irish Times. Marlowe described Mykytenko as ‘one of the most extraordinary people I have interviewed in 42 years of journalism’. How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying offers a rare, first-hand insight into the lives of Ukrainian soldiers defending their homeland against Russian aggression and highlights the contribution of women to the Ukrainian military.
Continue reading Author Talk: How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying-Guest post by Tiffany Murray, author of My Family and Other Rock Stars.
Continue reading A Childhood Memory of Place in ‘My Family and Other Rock Stars’‘Rockfield Studios is a farm with rock ’n’ roll and my mother is the cordon bleu chef. In the Quadrangle’s blue kitchen, she plays ‘That Ain’t the Way to Behave’ by Dr Feelgood, and ‘How Long’ by Ace, because she fed these songs. In our chalet (which she calls a converted stable) she keeps live shellfish in the bath, and they spit at me when I’m on the loo. Rockfield Studios is a kingdom of fields all the way to Monmouth. There are horses and cows and sheep, echo chambers and control rooms at Rockfield. Managers and record labels call the two studios ‘the Quadrangle’ and ‘the Coach House’, but we say, ‘Studio One’ and ‘Studio Two’. Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds walk the tracks as big trucks filled with instruments and amps turn in the yard, and even though the Old Mill is a drive away, when the wind blows, I’m sure I can hear Black Sabbath rehearse. At Rockfield my night sounds are back: the dof-da—da, doof-da-da of drums, the high whine of electric guitar.
Mum and I are safe here; even if Hawkwind throw open the double doors of the studio in the middle of the night and wake me with ‘The Wizard Blew His Horn’.
It’s my lullaby.’
