Jonathan Buckley Books In Order

Novels

  1. The Biography of Thomas Lang (1997)
  2. Xerxes (1999)
  3. Ghost MacIndoe (2001)
  4. Invisible (2004)
  5. So He Takes the Dog (2006)
  6. Contact (2010)
  7. Telescope (2011)
  8. Nostalgia (2013)
  9. The River is The River (2015)
  10. The Great Concert of the Night (2018)
  11. Live; Live; Live (2020)

Collections

  1. Ox-Tales: Earth (2009)
  2. The BBC National Short Story Award 2015 (2015)

Non fiction

  1. The Rough Guide to Venice (1989)
  2. Europe (1992)
  3. The Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria (1992)
  4. The Rough Guide to England (1994)
  5. The Rough Guide to Florence (1999)
  6. The Rough Guide to Italy (2007)
  7. Florence (2015)
  8. The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto (2016)

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Collections Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Jonathan Buckley Books Overview

Ox-Tales: Earth

Ox-Tales is a set of four compelling and collectible books, each themed on one of the elements. Earth features stories by Rose Tremain, Jonathan Coe, Marti Leimbach, Kate Atkinson, Ian Rankin, Marina Lewycka, Hanif Kureishi, Jonathan Buckley and Nicholas Shakespeare, and a poem by Vikram Seth.

The idea behind Ox-Tales is to raise money for Oxfam and along the way to highlight the charity’s work in project areas: agriculture in Earth, water projects in Water, conflict aid in Fire, and climate change in Air.

The Rough Guide to Venice

INTRODUCTION Nobody arrives in Venice and sees the city for the first time. Depicted and described so often that its image has become part of the European collective consciousness, Venice can initially create the slightly anticlimactic feeling that everything looks exactly as it should. The water lapped palaces along the Canal Grande are just as the brochure photographs made them out to be, Piazza San Marco does indeed look as perfect as a film set, and the panorama across the water from the Palazzo Ducale is precisely as Canaletto painted it. The sense of familiarity soon fades, however, as details of the scene begin to catch the attention an ancient carving high on a wall, a boat being manoeuvred round an impossible corner, a tiny shop in a dilapidated building, a waterlogged baseme*nt. And the longer one looks, the stranger and more intriguing Venice becomes. Founded fifteen hundred years ago on a cluster of mudflats in the centre of the lagoon, Venice rose to become Europe’s main trading post between the West and the East, and at its height controlled an empire that spread north to the Dolomites and over the sea as far as Cyprus. As its wealth increased and its population grew, the fabric of the city grew ever more dense. Very few parts of the hundred or so islets that compose the historic centre are not built up, and very few of its closely knit streets bear no sign of the city s long lineage. Even in the most insignificant alleyway you might find fragments of a medieval building embedded in the wall of a house like fossil remains lodged in a cliff face. The melancholic air of the place is in part a product of the discrepancy between the grandeur of its history and what the city has become. In the heyday of the Venetian Republic, some 200,000 people lived in Venice, not far short of three times its present population. Merchants from Germany, Greece, Turkey and a host of other countries maintained warehouses here; transactions in the banks and bazaars of the Rialto dictated the value of commodities all over the continent; in the dockyards of the Arsenale the workforce was so vast that a warship could be built and fitted out in a single day; and the Piazza San Marco was perpetually thronged with people here to set up business deals or report to the Republic s government. Nowadays it s no longer a living metropolis but rather the embodiment of a fabulous past, dependent for its survival largely on the people who come to marvel at its relics. The monuments which draw the largest crowds are the Basilica di San Marco the mausoleum of the city s patron saint and the Palazzo Ducale the home of the doge and all the governing councils. Certainly these are the most dramatic structures in the city: the first a mosaic clad emblem of Venice s Byzantine origins, the second perhaps the finest of all secular Gothic buildings. Every parish rewards exploration, though a roll call of the churches worth visiting would feature over fifty names, and a list of the important paintings and sculptures they contain would be twice as long. Two of the distinctively Venetian institutions known as the Scuole retain some of the outstanding examples of Italian Renaissance art the Scuola di San Rocco, with its dozens of pictures by Tintoretto, and the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, decorated with a gorgeous sequence by Carpaccio. Although many of the city s treasures remain in the buildings for which they were created, a sizeable number have been removed to one or other of Venice s museums. The one that should not be missed is the Accademia, an assembly of Venetian painting that consists of virtually nothing but masterpieces; other prominent collections include the museum of eighteenth century art in the Ca Rezzonico and the Museo Correr, the civic museum of Venice but again, a comprehensive list would fill a page. Then, of course, there s the inexhaustible spectacle of the streets themselves, of the majestic and sometimes decrepit palaces, of the hemmed in squares where much of the social life of the city is conducted, of the sunlit courtyards that suddenly open up at the end of an unpromising passageway. The cultural heritage preserved in the museums and churches is a source of endless fascination, but you should discard your itineraries for a day and just wander the anonymous parts of Venice reveal as much of the city s essence as the highlighted attractions. Equally indispensible for a full understanding of Venice s way of life and development are expeditions to the northern and southern islands of the lagoon, where the incursions of the tourist industry are on the whole less obtrusive. Venice s hinterland the Veneto is historically and economically one of Italy s most important regions. Its major cities Padua, Vicenza and Verona are all covered in the guide, along with many of the smaller towns located between the lagoon and the mountains to the north. Although rock bottom hotel prices are rare in the affluent Veneto, the cost of accommodation on the mainland is appreciably lower than in Venice itself, and to get the most out of the less accessible sights of the Veneto it s definitely necessary to base yourself for a day or two somewhere other than Venice perhaps in the northern town of Belluno or in the more central Castelfranco.

Europe

This is a comprehensive handbook to Europe, with information on 30 countries between the Arctic Circle and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. There are full accounts of European cities and towns, covering the best budget places to stay, eat and drink, and giving the lowdown on the latest nightlife, together with coverage of the major historic sights, from the temples of ancient Greece and the imperial palaces of Russia to the mosques of Turkey and the chateaux of France. There are tips on getting to the best beaches, mountains, forests and landscapes, and information is provided on the practicalities of travel and transport.

The Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria

The Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria is the most complete guide with detailed coverage of all the best attractions Tuscany and Umbria have to offer. Discover the vibrant regions of Tuscany and Umbria; with full accounts of Tuscany and Umbria’s major centres of Florence, Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Assisi and Orvieto, complete with coverage of the many smaller towns and villages of Tuscany and Umbria. Fully updated and expanded, guide features detailed coverage of the regions many sublime landscapes, from the wooded hills and vineyards of Chianti, to the mountains of the Alpi Apuane and lucid accounts of the regions artistic and cultural attractions. Find detailed practical advice on what to see and do in Tuscany and Umbria, whilst relying on up to the minute recommendations of the best hotels in Tuscany and Umbria, authentic restaurants and bars in Tuscany and Umbria, plus all the insider tips for the best shopping and entertainment options in Tuscany and Umbria, whatever your budget. Explore all corners of Tuscany and Umbria with the clearest maps of any guide. Make the most of your holiday with The Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria.

The Rough Guide to England

INTRODUCTION Like an ageing cabaret star shuffling onto the stage, England really needs no introduction. When even the world’s most remote communities are on first name terms with its footballers, princes, pop stars and prime ministers, it s clear that everyone knows something about this crowded island nation, perched on the western fringe of Europe. Visitors can pick their favourite slice of ‘Englishness’ and indulge themselves in a country with a notorious taste for nostalgia. The tales of King Arthur; the works of Shakespeare; the exploits of Drake; the intellect of Johnson; the invention of Brunel; the leadership of Churchill; the cult of Diana all are endlessly recycled in England, providing a cultural backdrop to an unparalleled range of historic buildings, sites and monuments. Of course, this isn t the whole story of England, or anything like it. For every tourist who wants to stand outside the gates of Buckingham Palace or visit Stratford upon Avon, there s another who makes a beeline for the latest Tracey Emin show or the contemporary cityscape of downtown Manchester. The difficulty is in saying which is the truer image of a country which flaunts proudly its many contradictions. Contemporary England is at the same time a deeply conservative place with a richly multi ethnic culture. Famously, fish and chips has given way to chicken tikka masala as the country s favourite dish, and while the nation tends to distrust all things European, the English also increasingly embrace a continental lifestyle. Enjoy a fried English breakfast or a Devonshire cream tea by all means, but notice the locals at the next door caf bar tucking into a croissant and a cappuccino. Ask an English person to define their country in terms of what s worth seeing and you re most likely to have your attention drawn to the country s golden rural past. The classic images are found in every brochure the village green, the duckpond, the country lane and the farmyard. And it s true that it s impossible to overstate the bucolic attractions of various English regions, from Cornwall to the Lake District, or the delights they provide from walkers trails and prehistoric stone circles to traditional pubs and obscure festivals. But despite celebrating their rural heritage, the modern day English have an ambivalent attitude towards ‘the country’. Farming today forms only a tiny proportion of the national income and there s a real dislocation between the urban population and the small rural communities badly hit by the current crisis in English farming. So perhaps the heart of England is found in its towns and cities instead? The shift towards urban living and working has not been reversed since the Industrial Revolution, and industry and the Empire it inspired has provided a framework for much of what s on show. Virtually every English town bears a mark of former wealth and power, whether it be a magnificent Gothic cathedral financed from a monarch s treasury, a parish church funded by the tycoons of the medieval wool trade, or a triumphalist civic building raised on the back of the slave and sugar trade. In the south of England you ll find old dockyards from which the navy patrolled the oceans, while in the north there are mills that employed entire town populations. England s museums and galleries several of them ranking among the world s finest are full of treasures trawled from its imperial conquests. And in their grandiose stuccoed terraces and wide esplanades the old resorts bear testimony to the heyday of the English holiday towns, as fashionable once as any European spa. In short, England isn t a simple destination, but rather a deeply engrained series of influences which ripple out into the world. Much of western history and culture is contained within its very fabric. Its inventions and creative momentum, from the Industrial Revolution to Cool Britannia, continue to inspire; while its idiosyncrasies and prejudices leave their mark across the English speaking world. And the only certainty for visitors is that, however long you spend in the country and however much you see, it still won t be enough to understand England. After all, the English have lived here all their lives and they still can t agree whether the milk goes in before or after the tea.

The Rough Guide to Florence

The Rough Guide to Florence & the Best of Tuscany is the essential companion to discovering the romantic Italian city and its breath taking surrounds. The full colour introduction highlights the renaissance architecture that dominates the streets of Florence, as well as the dramatic and varied scenery of the best pockets of Tuscany. There are full accounts of all the major tourist sites, including Michelangelo’s statue of David the charming Ponte Vecchio and Tuscany s world renowned wine regions, as well as thorough explorations of those hidden gems, from small hillside villages and Florence s dynamic drinking scene. There are special features on Florence as the capital of Italy and Tuscan Food & Drink, not to mention countless recommendations for Michelen starred restaurants, humble pizzerias, bars and caf s and hotels for every region and budget. The guide has all the practical information you need to get there, travel around with ease and ensure you don t miss the unmissable.

Make the most of your time with The Rough Guide to Florence & the Best of Tuscany.

The Rough Guide to Italy

The Rough Guide to Italy is the ultimate travel guide with clear maps and detailed coverage of all the best Italian attractions. Discover the vibrant Italian regions with the off the beaten track information every visitor to Italy needs. Find up to date descriptions of the best hotels in Italy, bars in Italy, restaurants in Italy and shops in Italy to cater for all budgets. Whether you wish to visit the Colosseum in Rome, the thermal spas of Tuscany, the stunning architecture in the heart of Milan or the magnificent canals of Venice; this Rough Guide will ensure you make the most of every moment in Italy. Featuring a comprehensive guide to Italy’s gastronomic delights; enjoy the best authentic Italian food with regional food guides on each chapter and a section devoted to Italian wines. Packed with detailed, updated maps, you ll find expert tips to help you make the most of Italy s varied landscape, fantastic hikes and city walks in Italy combined with an authoritative background on Italy s rich cultural history, highlighting Italy s spectacular festival culture. Make the most of your holiday with The Rough Guide to Italy.

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