Exploring the Philippines presents an ideal itinerary through 30 locations across the country, running roughly north to south. All of the country’s most famous locations are included, not only Manila and Cebu City of course, but also the island resort of Boracay, the famous rice terraces of Banaue and Baguio, the mountain capital. Other locations covered include the beaches of Pagudpud, Baler and Siquijor, the mountain retreat of Sagada, and the volcanoes of southern Bicol. What they all have in common is that they represent the most exciting sights that the Philippines has to offer, places that are all really worth visiting.
The sheer size of the Philippines (it has over 7,000 islands) and its amazing diversity, with environments that range from stunning submarine coral reefs to rugged and overly-active volcanoes, with beaches, lakes, rivers and forests in between, plus lively modern cities with heritage Spanish buildings, make Exploring the Philippines the ideal travel companion
Nigel Hicks Based these days in south-west England, Nigel spent many years living in East Asia, and he continues to work regularly in the region, most especially in the Philippines. Working as a freelance writer and photographer, his work has appeared in a range of magazines and publications around the world. He has written a number of books about the Philippines, including Wild Philippines, Blue Skies Travel Guide to the Philippines, and Enchanting Philippines, to name just a few. He holds a Fellowship with the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP), the highest qualification from what is one of the UK’s leading professional photography bodies.
A Naturalist’s Guide to the Butterflies of Britain & Northern Europe is an easy-to-use, fully comprehensive photographic guide to the 159 butterfly species found in Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is perfect for amateur naturalists. High-quality photographs are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include common and scientific name, wingspan, distribution and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers living with butterflies, anatomy, behaviour, enemies and friends, ecology, updated distribution details and conservation information.
Ted Benton is professor emeritus in Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.
His academic work has focused on integrating environmental issues into social scientific theory, and he is a long-time environmental activist. Since childhood he has been a field-naturalist, with a strong interest in insects. He has travelled throughout Europe over the past 35 years studying and photographing butterflies in their natural habitats. In addition to his academic publications, he has authored or co-authored seven books on natural history, including two award-winning volumes in the New Naturalist series (Bumblebees (2006) and Grasshoppers and Crickets (2012). His photographs of European butterflies have appeared in numerous publications, and he is author (with artist Tim Bernhard) of The Easy Butterfly Guide (Aurum 2006).
Specifications • 180 x 128 mm (7 x 5”) • 176 pages • 35,000 words approx. • 300 photographs
• ISBN 9781917879057 • £9.99 (UK), paperback • Available
A Marine Guide to the Red Sea is both a guide to the best sites for diving and snorkelling, and a photographic ID guide to 350 common species of marine life, covering fish, invertebrates, corals and megafauna.
The dive sites of the Red Sea offer unobstructed opportunities to spot tropical marine life in crystal-clear waters, ranging from sharks and dolphins to gorgonian fans and feather-stars. Diving types include shallow patch reefs, drift dives and walls, and a collection of some of the most interesting wrecks you are likely to find anywhere, including the world-famous Carnatic and Thistlegorm wrecks. Many of the reefs stretch out far into the sea and form intricate labyrinths of plateaus, lagoons, caves and gardens.
Divided into three parts, the book provides a general introduction to diving and snorkelling in the Red Sea including what to expect and where to base yourself; a guide to the best sites for diving and snorkelling; and a photographic identification to over 350 of the most common species of marine life covering fish, invertebrates, corals and megafauna. For all those who plan to spend time in or on the waters of the Red Sea, this is the perfect, pocket-sized guide.
Lawson Wood has been fortunate to make his passion his career and has authored and co-authored over 45 books, mainly on our underwater world. Lawson is a founding member of the Marine Conservation Society; founder of the first Marine Reserve at St Abbs in Scotland and made photographic history by becoming the first person to be a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photographers solely for underwater photography.
Specification • 210 x 148 mm (8¼” x 6”) • 160 pages • 40,000 words approx. (including captions) 400 photos + 3 maps • Full colour throughout
• ISBN 9781917879170 • £14.99 paperback • September 2026
A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica is a photographic identification guide to 280 bird species most commonly seen in Costa Rica, and is perfect for resident and visitor alike. High quality photographs from one of the country’s top nature photographers are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers geography, climate, habitat types, bird species and taxonomy, bird migration and the key sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is an all-important checklist of all of the birds of Costa Rica encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific name, and IUCN status.
Steve Bird has been birdwatching since he was a small child. He has led birdwatching tours to South and Central America for many years, photographing and documenting the species he encounters. Having travelled throughout the world and accumulated a vast image library, he now enjoys passing on the wealth of information he has acquired.
Specification • 180 x 128 mm (7 x 5”) • 176 pages • 35,000 words approx. • 200–300 photographs
• ISBN 978-1-912081-02-8 • £11.99 paperback • Publication (2nd edition) October 2019
An absorbing study of Cambodian religion and beliefs covering everything from the role of monks in everyday life to beliefs in ghosts, gods and shamans. Belief in the supernatural covers every aspect of a Cambodian’s birth, life and death; life is a process of merit-making in order to maximize the conditions of their rebirth. Philip Coggan’s lively text describes the Buddha’s life, the establishment of Buddhism in Cambodia and the duties of monks within the monasteries. The spirit world is mapped and the interaction between gods, spirits and humans is described through the various stages of life. Cambodia’s recent history is discussed in relation to its connection with the spirit world.
The text is enlivened by the author’s interviews with Cambodians, such as the girl who sees spirits all the time, or the woman who can put people in touch with the ghosts of dead relatives. Altogether, this factual account of the status of the supernatural and the practice of religion in Cambodia makes a fascinating read.
Philip Coggan is a freelance journalist based in Cambodia. Australian by origin, he fell in love with Asia on his first visit to Bali, and has been travelling and living in the region ever since. His first novel, Shiny Objects of Desire, was published in 2014, and a second will come out in 2016. He also writes a blog at pjcoggan.com.
Specifications:
• 210 x 148mm (8 1/4 x 6”) • 160 pages • 50,000 words • approx. 50 colour photos
• ISBN 978-1-909612-52-5 • £12.99 paperback • Available
Mungo Park set off from his home in the Scottish borders in May 1795 at the age of 23 to discover the course of the River Niger in west Africa. When he reappeared in England more than two and a half years later, he had been presumed dead, and the tale of his perilous journey published in 1799 was greeted with great acclaim. Travels in the Interior of Africa provided Europeans with one of the first detailed descriptions of the geography and peoples of the African continent. The story of his remarkable journey is told with extraordinary modesty and clarity, and it remains as vivid and readable today as when he first wrote it.
Park went back to West Africa on a second journey in 1805, but he failed to return. In his last letter he declared his intent “to discover the termination of the Niger or perish in the attempt”. He drowned in the Niger whilst trying to escape an attack by natives.
Stanfords Travel Classics feature some of the finest historical travel writing in the English language, with authors hailing from both sides of the Atlantic. Every title has been reset in a contemporary typeface to create a series that every lover of fine travel literature will want to collect and keep.
Specifications:
• 198 x 129 mm (7¾ x 5”) • 232 pages
• ISBN 978-1-909612-78-5 • £8.99 paperback • Available
Henry James was a renowned observer of European culture, both in his fiction and in his life. In particular, he loved Italy, visiting it 14 times and setting several of his novels in the country. Between 1873 and 1909 he also wrote numerous essays and travelogues that were ultimately collected into one volume and published as Italian Hours.
James is famous for his fine perception and baroque prose, and both are found in abundance in Italian Hours. As one would expect, he is a wonderful cultural critic, providing passionate and discerning reviews of the highlights of Italy’s art and architecture. He also presents a surprisingly familiar view of the changes that time and tourism were bringing to modern Italy. For all of his acute insights, Italian Hours is, above all, an affair of the heart, and will resonate with anyone who shares his love of the country.
Stanfords Travel Classics feature some of the finest historical travel writing in the English language, with authors hailing from both sides of the Atlantic. Every title has been reset in a contemporary typeface to create a series that every lover of fine travel literature will want to collect and keep.
Specifications:
• 198 x 129 mm (7¾ x 5”) • 320 pages
• ISBN 978-1-909612-76-1 • £9.99 paperback • Available
A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Australia is an easy-to-use introductory photographic guide to 280 bird species seen in Australia, including the most commonly seen and rare endemic species. High quality photographs from the author and other top Australian nature photographers are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers climate, vegetation, biogeography and the key sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is an all-important checklist of all of the birds of Australia encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific name, and local and IUCN status.
In this fourth edition many photos have been updated and species level taxonomy follows IOC version 13.1 (Gill et al. 2023), while common names follow nomenclature of The BirdLife Australia Working List of Australian Birds version 3.0 (BirdLife Australia, 2019).
Dean Ingwersen is an avian ecologist with over 20 years of experience and has worked on a range of high-profile threatened bird recovery programmes in Australia. He is an award-winning photographer, contributes articles to bird publications regularly and has conducted numerous bird identification and photography workshops over the years.
Specifications:
• 180 x 128 mm (7 x 5”) • 176 pages • 35,000 words • 200–300 photographs
• ISBN 9781913679651 • A$29.99 (Australia) £12.99 (UK) paperback • Available
A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Hong Kong is a fully updated second edition of this introductory identification guide to the 279 bird species most likely to be seen in Hong Kong, including every species classified as Abundant, Common or Uncommon in the Hong Kong Bird Report.
High quality photographs from the region’s top photographers are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers geography and climate, vegetation, opportunities for naturalists and the main sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is an all-important checklist of all of the birds of Hong Kong, encompassing, for each species, its common, Chinese and scientific name, and its current IUCN status.
Ray Tipper, ARPS, is a life-long birdwatcher who left his native Britain in 1973 and spent most of the next 22 years engaged in Hong Kong. Here, he became a trustee of WWF and was intimately involved with its renowned Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve. It was in Hong Kong that he turned to bird photography which quickly became his major interest. He is an associate of the Royal Photographic Society and his photographs are regularly published in journals and books all over the world. Bird photography remains his passion, yet he still retains his love of birdwatching and has led more than 100 tours for the British bird tour company, Avian Adventures, in Europe, the Americas, Africa including Madagascar and Asia. He now lives in the Algarve, Portugal where he is Chairman of the Portuguese Rarities Committee.
Endorsed by the HONG KONG BIRD WATCHING SOCIETY
Specifications 180 x 128 mm (7 x 5”) • 176 pages • 35,000 words approx. • 300 photographs
• ISBN 978-1-913679-08-8 • £12.99 paperback • Available
This easy-to-use identification guide to the 280 bird species most representative of Southeast China covers Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, and Shanghai. High quality photographs from the region’s top nature photographers are accompanied by detailed species descriptions which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers geography and climate, vegetation, opportunities for naturalists and the main sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is an all-important checklist of all of the birds of Southeast China encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific name, IUCN status as at 2011.
Yong Ding Li is vice-chair of the Southeast Asian Biodiversity Society and committee member of the Nature Society (Singapore)’s bird group. He is currently pursuing a PhD in biodiversity conservation at the Australian National University. Ding Li has extensive field experience in Singapore and across Asia, and has published many research papers on birds, conservation and ecology. He also advises the IUCN SSC on Southeast Asian birds.
Yu Yat-tung, born and living in Hong Kong, studied ecology at university and has been a passionate birdwatcher in Hong Kong and the neighbouring areas of China since 1988. He is a research manager of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, responsible for coordinating and managing their conservation projects.
Yang Liu is an ornithologist based in Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. He has a PhD in Ecology and Evolution in University of Bern, Switzerland. He has rich experience of birdwatching in China since 1994 and is responsible for editing the China Bird Report and the associated checklist of birds in China.
Specifications:
• 180 x 128 mm (7 x 5”) • 176 pages • 40,000 words approx. • 200–300 photographs
• ISBN 978-1-909612-23-5 • £9.99 paperback • Available