Shire Publications imprint: 233 books

Though there have never been many Quakers, these small numbers belie the sect's tremendous impact, both historical and contemporary. Quakerism has produced an astonishing and disproportionate number of eminent thinkers, scientists, industrialists and businessmen, who are united not only by their success...

Humphry Repton (1752–1818) ambitiously styled himself Capability Brown's successor: the century's next great improver of landed property. With his rare combinations of skills – he was a talented topographical sketcher with an excellent knowledge of farming – over thirty years Repton amassed...

Begun in 1926 to connect Chicago to Los Angeles, Route 66 was the country's first major east-west thoroughfare. By 1930 it was an important route for both truckers and travellers alike, and in 1939 it became known as 'The Mother Road' thanks to John Steinbeck's classic The Grapes of Wrath. Over the...

The heart of every working farm and ranch, the barn is an icon of rural America. This book chronicles – and celebrates – all the main types, and looks at how these treasures of early American architecture developed. It explains how a wealth of immigrant construction methods and range of environments...

The White House is the most famous house in the world – yet its 18 acres of perfectly manicured grounds and magnificent gardens, much beloved by the Presidents and their families, are rarely seen by the public. This book is a horticultural celebration of all the Presidents' gardens, beginning with...

Bowling is a favorite pastime for millions of families, and since its 1960s and '70s heyday has come to seem quintessentially American. Yet in Egypt as early as 3200 BC.,and Europe as far back as 300 A.D.,games were played in which a ball was rolled in an attempt to knock down objects, suggesting...

From prize-winning historical novelist Louise Allen, this book presents nine walks through both the London Jane Austen knew and the London of her novels! Follow in Jane's footsteps to her publisher's doorstep and the Prince Regent's vanished palace, see where she stayed when she was correcting proofs...

Native American pottery of the U.S. southwest has long been considered collectible and today can fetch many thousands of dollars per piece. Authors, collectors, and dealers Carol and Allen Hayes provide readers with a concise overview of the pottery of the southwest, from its origins in the Bastketmaker...

There are few pieces of pottery more recognisable than those designed by Clarice Cliff. For many the epitome of Art Deco, characterised by bold colour and lines, geometric shapes, and stylised representations of the countryside, Clarice Cliff's 'bizarre' pottery is collected all over the world. Using...

During her sixty-five-year career, Susie Cooper introduced more than 4,500 ceramic patterns and shapes, making her one of the most prolific, versatile and influential designers the industry has ever seen. Between the 1920s and 1980s she moved from the bold hand-painting of the 'Jazz Age' through delicate...

The churches of Britain contain a remarkable heritage of exquisitely embroidered vestments, and cathedrals in particular hold some of the most beautiful textiles ever produced in Europe. The history of these priestly garments and how their use developed in Britain and Europe is fascinating. This book...

The Great Gatsby is that rare classic that inescapably defines the age from which it sprang: the Roaring '20s, an era of economic boom, stylish excess and above all an explosion of new and exciting fashions. This book chronicles the sparkling spectacle of Jazz Age fashion as it moves from the corseted...

More than a footnote to the Second World War, or a foreword to the youth-obsessed exhilaration of the Sixties, the Fifties was a thrilling decade devoted to newness and freshness. The British people, rebuilding their lives and wardrobes, demanded modern materials, vibrant patterns and exciting prints...

Although usually associated with the 1920s and the '30s, in fact the Art Deco style had begun to emerge in France prior to the advent of the First World War. But it was during the interwar years that the style, reaching full maturity, was adopted by the international elite as the perfect expression...