Countryside Books was started in 1976 by Nick and Sue Battle working from their dining room table. Their first book title, Walks Around The Downs included a walk across Watership Down (Hampshire/Berkshire borders) made famous by Richard Adams’ book about a family of rabbits.
The book Tales of Old Berkshire by Newbury author Cecilia Millson came out in 1977. Fired with the success of these two books and plans for future book titles, Nick gave up his job in a London publishing firm in 1980. Since then Countryside Books has moved out of the Battles’ home and grown to its present staff of three full-time and six part-time free lancers. It is still based close to the centre of Newbury.
Over the years Countryside Books has also published books in partnership with the County Federations of the Womens’ Institutes and the Federation of Family History Societies.
Approximately 5 new book titles are published each year and at any one time a nucleus of around 590 books are available from the backlist.
This book aims to help the reader recognize the common architectural styles and original features from each period, whether they just want to find out more about a particular property, or are trying to restore one.
This illustrated, easy reference guide is packed with all the information you need to help you date English furniture and bring its history to life. The book looks at many different furniture types, showing how form, style and the types of wood used changed from the Tudor period through to the Art Deco years of the 1930s.
Through colorful illustrations and accounts of actual sieges in every chapter, this book describes how armies from medieval times up to the English Civil War attacked and besieged British castles and how changing weaponry shaped the defences we see the remains of today.
This guide includes hundreds of photos and drawings of rooftops and their features offering a glimpse into this aspect of Britain’s architectural history.
Have you ever passed a building and wondered how old it is? This illustrated and easy reference guide is packed with hundreds of photos and information to help you date buildings and bring their history to life.
Victorian railway stations reflected the importance of that revolutionary mode of transport for Britain. The great iron roads transformed both rural and urban landscapes, as well as fundamentally changing...
Cotswold Cottages have a warm beauty unequaled in rural Britain. The cottages have a character that has been determined by changes in local industry and farming, as well as by the properties of the...
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