Books published by British Museum Press

This beautiful and rare textile, now in the British Museum, was produced in the late seventeenth century in the wake of the remarkable outflow of Krishna veneration resulting from the ministry of the great eastern Indian saint, Sankaradava (died 1568). The author looks at the art, technique and iconography of the textile and also place it within its wider religious, cultural and geographical contexts. He traces, too, its fascinating history and its journey from Assam to London.

This engaging book tells the story of ten of the world's most important currencies and reveals how each and every one of them has helped shape the world we live in.

Illustrated with the best examples of inscriptions from the British Museum's Roman collection, this book will explore the meaning of putting up public inscriptions and the standardised system of abbreviation that was used to ensure Romans from all areas of the Empire could read them. Written in the simple everyday-life Latin, they also reflect linguistic changes within society, allowing the modern day scholar to uncover the introduction of slang words and new spellings of Latin words. We may also stumble across spelling mistakes, for not everyone knew how to write Latin fluently, and often we find that words had been written phonetically.

Now available in paperback, this successful and beautiful book provides a unique introduction to the global phenomenon that is African art, and highlights the most striking aspects of craftsmanship, materials and design.

How do we know Islamic art? What tells us that images and artifacts are products of the Muslim world, a culture that has historically extended from Spain to Southeast Asia and spanned a period from A.D. 622 to our day? This exquisitely and extensively illustrated book allows readers to identify those elements and themes that define art forms as Islamic, and to examine them in works of painting and metalwork, in calligraphy and manuscripts, ceramics, glass, wood, and ivory comprising one of the most imposing collections of arts from across the Muslim world.

From the successful, collectable Art-in-Detail series, now available in paperback with new covers.

From the successful, collectable Art-in-Detail series, now refreshed and available in paperback.

Selection of classical and modern Chinese love poems, illustrated with brushwork calligraphy and scenes from rarely exhibited paintings and prints in the collection of the British Museum.

In 2007 during an archaeological excavation in advance of a hotel development situated 150 metres from the Roman Baths in Bath, a Roman silver coin hoard was unearthed. This book tells the story of this remarkable find, focusing on the discovery, scientific investigation, interpretation of the hoard, and the parallels and context in Roman world.

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) was the foremost wood engraver not only of his generation, but of all subsequent generations, and the quality of his work has remained unsurpassed. This book celebrates the skill of the artist by presenting sixty engravings, and by offering a historical perspective.

The British Museum watch collection is unsurpassed anywhere in the world, and this brilliant book tells the story of the watch which spans an incredible 500 years.

Beautifully illustrated gift book on the prints and drawings of Albrecht Durer, the first truly international artist.

From late antiquity through to the early middle ages, people across north-western Europe were inscribing runes on a range of different objects. Once identified and interpreted by experts, runes provide us with invaluable evidence for the early Germanic languages including English, Dutch, German and the Scandinavian languages and reveal a wealth of information about our early civilisations. Runes employ many techniques from informal scratchings to sophisticated inlaid designs on weapons, or the exquisite relief carvings of the Franks Casket. The task of reading and understanding them involves a good deal of detective-work, calling on expertise from a number of academic disciplines: archaeology, art history, linguistics, and even forensic science. This book tells the story of runes from their mysterious origins, their development as a script, to their use and meaning in the modern world. Illustrated with a range of beautiful objects from jewellery to tools and weapons, Runes will reveal memorials for the dead, business messages, charms and curses, insults and prayers, giving us a glimpse into the languages and cultures of Europeans over a thousand years ago.

Presents an adventure that takes King Harald Sigurdsson, the last king of the Vikings, from a frightened teenager to wealthy and powerful warrior and finally, to a ruthless and tyrannical king, whose ambition leads him to a futile, yet glorious death at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.

There have been many books about the Vikings, but few that see them from their own point of view. Most accounts rely heavily on the records of prejudiced observers (who saw the Vikings only as savage raiders) or the archaeological record, which tells us much about their material culture but little about their values. This classic book reveals how the Vikings saw themselves: portrayed in their own writings or in the reports of people who knew them closely. Using a series of translations from primary sources including runic inscriptions, literary works, rare historical accounts and eye-witness reports, this book brings the Viking world to life.