Wales' mountains, with their intricate network of valleys and passes, provide the walker with ideal terrain for a coast-to-coast walk. The routes in this guide from Snowdonia to the Gower Peninsular are designed for experienced walkers looking for new routes rather than following the marked ways.

The High Tatras is a range of granite and gneiss mountains between Poland and Slovakia: 500 rocky summits, 100 of which exceed 2000m in height (Gerlach 2655m). The ridges are narrow and full of gendarmes and look formidable, yet, as you draw closer you discern the valleys which separate the peaks and realise there are ways through. A network of waymarked paths connects peaks, lakes and mountain huts. Many are simple walks, but some are exposed via ferrata-type scrambles. With the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, access is now a simple matter and is fully described in the book, as are all major centres on both sides of the border and a comprehensive selection from the easiest to the hardest. Despite its title the book also includes the slate peaks of Western Tatras and limestone peaks of the White Tatras as well as the High Tatras.

Now that the former Soviet Union is open to Western walkers and climbers many are taking the opportunity to visit the fabled Caucasus, the highest mountains in Europe. British climbers knew the area a century ago and, unlike the Alps, the changes have been minimal. 62 walks are described. Some need simple climbing skills but most are straightforward. In addition two routes are described to the tops of Elbruz, the highest mountain in Europe. This is the first modern book of its kind by Russian authors. There are some very easy routes across the Main Range, following good, wide paths, but the fact is that the central part from the Klukhor to Mamisonsky passes cannot offer such a boon. It does not mean you have to climb to get over the Range, but you should not expect a comfortable path up to the saddle and you have to be ready for scree, grass and snow slopes. Not a big hardship, considering the reward in calm and seclusion, so rare nowadays.

This authoritative catalogue of the Corcoran Gallery of Art's renowned collection of pre-1945 American paintings will greatly enhance scholarly and public understanding of one of the finest and most important collections of historic American art in the world. Composed of more than 600 objects dating from 1740 to 1945.

According to a longstanding interpretation, book religions are agents of textuality and logocentrism. This volume inverts the traditional perspective: its focus is on the strong dependency between scripture and aesthetics, holy books and material artworks, sacred texts and ritual performances. The contributions, written by a group of international specialists in Western, Byzantine, Islamic and Jewish Art, are committed to a comparative and transcultural approach. The authors reflect upon the different strategies of »clothing« sacred texts with precious materials and elaborate forms. They show how the pretypographic cultures of the Middle Ages used book ornaments as media for building a close relation between the divine words and their human audience. By exploring how art shapes the religious practice of books, and how the religious use of books shapes the evolution of artistic practices this book contributes to a new understanding of the deep nexus between sacred scripture and art.