Splinters

Over the last year I've found the pocket-book sized New Horizon editions out of British art publishers Thames & Hudson incredibly useful for research purposes. At first, they look like condescending entertainments aimed at teenagers tempted by learning but too lazy to read. There are loads of glossy images and diagrams with the text tucked in almost as an afterthought. But this is a false impression. The writing packs in more stimulating detail than any number of rambling 400 page tomes. It has saved me from the shelves of books on a subject I wanted only to scan. At the back of each book they add yellow pages labelled "Documents" with extracts from primary sources. As introduction, guide and inspiration to a subject, they can hardly be bettered.