Focusing on some of the most photogenic areas of Europe and the United States, this growing series of books is most notable for its magnificent photographs of the lovely villages and towns of the areas covered in each volume.

With literary and historical references, these coffeetable books include appendices listing the most important sites, markets, festivals, hotels, and restaurants.

Tom Shachtman, Photographs by Len Rubenstein

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. Rubenstein’s photographs celebrate all the delights of New England: the fishing villages and towns of the rocky Atlantic Coast, the highlands of its mountain ranges, and the quiet, exquisitely preserved communities in the river valleys. 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. There is also a rich tradition of domestic architecture: seaside homes clad in weathered gray shingles, white clapboard houses surrounding village greens, and exuberant Victorian gingerbread homes.

Bonnie Ramsey, Photographs by Dennis O'Kain

A region of widely divergent landscapes and peoples, the American South is bound by a tradition and style that make it quite unlike any other part of America. Nowhere is the quintessence of Southern life so intensely expressed as in the villages and towns photographed and described in this book.

The villages of these regions are varied, but those included in this book all have their individual beauty, whether expressed in white clapboard or Victorian brick. This picture of the South is completed by special illustrated features on its horse culture, its churches and cemeteries, and its fabulous gardens.

Joan Tapper, Photographs by Nik Wheeler

When you think of the American Southwest, it isn’t the towns that initially come to mind. Rather, it’s the incredible landscape: carved-out chasms, towering red rocks, and dramatic desert expanses. But you shouldn’t miss the beautiful old towns—the clusters of adobe houses around Spanish-style plazas and the rows of Victorian miners’ cottages that still cling to precipitous hillsides. Many of these communities started as remote outposts, then flourished in a burst of riches, only to fade again.

Today the Southwest is a region of energetic growth and multicultural vitality, and its quaint towns are enjoying renewed attention as their rich history, striking settings, and distinctive architecture attract Americans touring their homeland’s picturesque byways as well as visitors from around the world.

Wheeler’s stunning photography and Tapper’s perceptive commentaries celebrate the beauty and heritage of thirty special communities in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and western Colorado. They range from tiny villages of a few hundred people to towns of as much as 40,000, but most are the kind of place where a chance conversation still opens doors: Bisbee, Spring City, Truchas, Tubac, Tombstone, Cimarron, Silverton, Ouray, Winnemucca, Moab, Sedona, and so many more.

Joan Tapper, Photographs by Nik Wheeler

California sometimes seems like a whole country in itself, with a nation’s worth of scenery: rugged sierras, fog-laced headlands, golden beaches, and rolling oak-studded ranch land. The small towns and villages of ‘The Golden State’ are perennial travellers’ favorites.

This book showcases the most picturesque small places of California. Not just the pretty, historic houses – although there are plenty of those – but also streetscapes, markets and the local landscape. After all, the bluffs of Mendocino and the vineyards surrounding St. Helena contribute as much to the delights of those places as the houses and galleries add to the charm of beguiling Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Here are stunning photo essays on the history and heritage of the wine country, ghost towns, and missions as well as essential information for tourists and places to stay and eat.

Joan Tapper, Photographs by Nik Wheeler

What is the allure of the Pacific Northwest? Centuries ago it was the gifts of nature that brought the explorers, fur traders, and pioneers. Today Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia still draw visitors to the sparkling coves and waterways, pristine mountains, and broad beaches— and they charm them with artful towns and spirited communities.

The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Pacific Northwest wends its way from nineteenth-century seaports like Port Townsend, Washington, to twenty-first-century ski resorts such as Whistler, British Columbia; from coastal getaways like Cannon Beach, Oregon, to Old West-style main streets in Joseph at the eastern border of that state. And it brings to life the stories of those who made epic journeys across the continent, trudging along the Oregon Trail or building the Canadian Pacific Railway in pursuit of the good life in this corner of North America.

Along with tales of specific towns there are photo essays—on the picturesque lighthouses that protected shipping from the dangers of the Graveyard of the Pacific; on the gorgeous gardens that capitalize on the Northwestern climate; and on wine country, where new and acclaimed vineyards go hand in hand with an emphasis on lifestyle.