The Most Beautiful Villages of New England (Most Beautiful Villages) (Hardcover)

~ Tom Shachtman (Author), Len Rubenstein (Author, Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this handsome addition to the series that includes books on the Dordogne, Provence (LJ 1/95), and Tuscany, travel author Shachtman displays the charms of more than 20 New England villages, from Nantucket, Watch Hill, and Stonington on the coast to the inland communities of Deerfield, Newfane, and Bethel. Many of Rubenstein's original and pleasing color photographs are full-page, taking advantage of the large format of this coffee-table book. The short historical essays by Shachtman are only adequate, while the captions are often disappointing and uninformative. Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, stunningly photographed, is identified only as "the great hall"; a church interior, presumably in Walpole, New Hampshire, is not identified at all; and a field of black-eyed Susans is labeled "dandelions." In addition, the text could have been better wedded to the photographs. Still, this book is bound to be popular in any public library because of the subject matter and attractive work of the photographer.?Linda M. Kaufmann, Freel Lib., Massachusetts Coll. of Liberal Arts, North Adams.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

With this book, Thames and Hudson's renowned Most Beautiful Villages series turns its attention for the first time to America. Honored as the birthplace of the Revolution, the six states that comprise New England are home to some of this country's most beautiful and cherished villages--places that preserve and reflect its architectural and cultural legacy. Here, in countless public squares and cemeteries, are monuments to the battles of the Revolution, and memorials to the heirs of the revolutionaries who themselves marched off to preserve the Union during the Civil War. One of the most splendid repositories of American institutional architecture is found in New England's public meeting halls and churches, and in the industrial mills and factories of the nineteenth century. The book also celebrates New England's rich tradition of domestic architecture: seaside homes clad in weathered gray shingles, white clapboard houses surrounding village greens, and exuberant Victorian gingerbread homes. New England is justly famous for its succession of intensely realized seasons: its deep and snowy winter; its spring, which bursts forth in a cascade of melting snow and budding vegetation; its leafy, languid summer days; and, perhaps most famously, its autumn, when the landscape seems to be on fire with the vivid reds, oranges, and yellows of the foliage. The Most Beautiful Villages of New England presents over twenty-five towns and villages, chosen for their beauty and history, and for their diverse geography. Here are the fishing villages and towns of New England's rocky Atlantic Coast, from famous summer watering holes to isolated island hamlets. We explore farming villages and the highlands of New England's mountain ranges--the Adirondacks, Berkshires, and Green Mountains. In the river valleys we find quiet, exquisitely preserved communities and renovated mill and factory towns.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1st Edition. edition (October 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500018006
• ISBN-13: 978-0500018002
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 10.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,495 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #2 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Travel > United States > New England
  #13 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > Northeast
  #21 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > New England

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ho-hum pretty. Doesn't do the region justice., November 26, 2006

By	Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I took this coffee-table photo book out of the library once I realized that one of the featured "most beautiful villages" in New England was Stonington, Maine -- where I lived for nearly seven years. I wanted to see what they chose to show about the Deer Isle area because hey, *I* knew what made the area so gorgeous. If they could capture Stonington, perhaps they could also bring to life the beauty of the other villages covered -- from Essex, CT to Grafton, VT to Nantucket, MA.

To my disappointment, though, the photographers chose rather humdrum locations to highlight. Nothing here is _bad_, mind you. The photos are perfectly nice. There's plenty of predictable photos of clapboard buildings and small town churches and autumn leaves. But it's the predictability that makes this worth flipping through once... and only once. It's as though you had purchased large-format postcards from the ordinary gift shoppe -- not captured something unique and beautiful.

I'm a little astonished that this book has so many pictures of the (admittedly beautiful) autumn leaves in New England (that is, they're beautiful if they don't make you think "Oh geez we'd better top off the heating oil"). But not a single picture of the mountain lupine blooming in the spring that, in my opinion, is far prettier. You'll see several inoffensive photos of boats tied up at the dock at sunset... but almost nothing that reflects the sense of community that can make small-town living so precious.

I'd hoped that this book would bring back a tiny bit of my years on Deer Isle. Alas... I'll have to dig out my own photos for that.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, April 8, 2006

By	A. Crisp (Melbourne, Australia.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love books that have high quality photography, this is a magnificent book on new england towns.

8 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New England Beauty, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

Wonderful photagraphs and great images of beautiful New England! Reminiscent of my childhood, and old fashioned villages of yesterday. A must for the coffee table!