The Book Emporium

23/08/2025

R150
Graphic Novels by Paul Gravett
Paperback
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

Genres: Nonfiction / Comics / Graphic Novels / Reference / Art

Once stereotyped as the preserve of improbably dressed superhumans with world-saving tendencies, in recent years graphic novels have become one of today's most exciting art forms, taking on the world we live in and reflecting it back to us in a thousand different ways. All of human experience is here, from teenage girlfriends alienated in suburbia to a desperate housewife's search for passion, brought to life with insight, imagination and page-turning narrative. This is the perfect companion to the world of graphic novels, whether you're a novice uncertain where to start or an enthusiast eager to discover more. In a series of interlinked chapters, Paul Gravett introduces the masterpieces of the medium and helps readers explore its treasures, from the rich, mysterious textures of Neil Gaiman's Sandman to Marjane Satrapi's vivid memories of her Iranian childhood in Persepolis. Author of the bestselling Sixty Years of Japanese Comics, Paul Gravett has worked in comics publishing and promotion for over twenty years as a writer, curator, lecturer and broadcaster. He also writes for newspapers and magazines including the Guardian, Time Out, Blueprint, Neo, The Comics Journal, Comics International, Comic Art and Dazed & Confused.

23/08/2025

R100
Hot Bodies, Cool Styles by Ted Polhemus
New Techniques in Self Adornment
Paperback
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

The first book to reflect the global wave of enthusiasm for all forms of body decoration. Along with tattooed celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, men and women around the world are embracing body decoration. If Chanel jewelry is out of reach except to the few, asking for Chanelor Guccitattoos has become the new craze. Nose rings have entered the boardroom, and navel piercing or tattoos at the base of the spine are de rigueur. Ultraviolet face and hair paint, hair extensions, bleached crew cuts, henna design on hands and feet, ornaments made from found objectsthe new creative options give both the single-minded makers of style and the more uncertain majority the opportunity to join in. Ted Polhemus shows how body adornment has been natural to all peoples until the modern period, and why we are now reverting to our roots. After analyzing the various forms of decoration, he shows how we are influenced by the exotic, drawing on tribal or Far Eastern models; the naturalness of artifice and the artifice of the natural look; and how body decoration makes us masters of our own identities. The photographs, taken by the talented young team of U*i PART B, reveal key designs and creative techniques. A practical advice section, specially commissioned from Betti Marenko, includes body preparation, healing times, and safety tips, and provides a valuable guide for those acquiring a tattoo or piercing. 200 color illustrations.

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23/08/2025

R150
High Voltage Tattoo by Kat Von D.
Hard Cover
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

Genres: Nonfiction / Art / Biography / Memoir / Pop Culture

From the charismatic star of The Learning Channel's number-one program "L.A. Ink" comes a rich view of contemporary tattoo culture, as only a true insider can offer. Full-color throughout.

23/08/2025

R65
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Manga Fantasy Creatures Illustrated by Tomoko Taniguchi
Paperback
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

Learn how to draw fantasy creatures—manga style!

Reading manga has grown increasingly popular over the past few years, as has the desire to learn how to create one’s own manga characters. Following in the footsteps of the highly successful The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Drawing Manga, Illustrated, this guide offers readers how-to instruction for creating fantasy creatures in the manga style. With more than 300 illustrations, readers will learn how to create everything from chibis and furry creatures to dragons and monsters. Each step-by-step illustration builds on the last, using a second color to highlight the new strokes, and ends with a full-color rendering of the final creature.

23/08/2025

R120
Book of the Vampire by Nigel Suckling
Illustrated by Bruce Pennington
Hardcover
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

Genres: Vampires / Nonfiction

An examination of the vampire in legend and history, taking Bram Stoker's Dracula as a starting point since it is mainly responsible for the vampire's modern notoriety. Nigel Suckling examines Dracula's fictional ancestry as well as the folklore and historical characters (such as Vlad the Impaler and Countess Elizabeth Bathory) that informed Stoker's many-layered monster. The books ends with a look at the vampire legend today and the resurgence of belief in such monsters. Illustrations are by that master of fantasy and science fiction art, Bruce Pennington.

The vampire lives on and cannot die by the mere passing of time; he flourishes wherever he can fatten on the blood of the living. He throws no shadow, he makes in the mirror no reflection. He has the strength of many in his hand. He can transform himself into a wolf or become a bat. He can come in mist which he creates, or on moonlight rays as elemental dust. He can, when once he finds his way, come out from anything or into anything, no matter how close it be bound. He can see in the dark... - Dr Abraham Van Helsing in Bram Stocker's Dracula

23/08/2025

R75
The Last Tsar by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa
The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs
C Format Paperback
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

Genres: History / Russia / Nonfiction / Biography / Russian History

The definitive story behind the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty, by the world’s foremost expert

When Tsar Nicholas II fell from power in 1917, Imperial Russia faced a series of overlapping crises, from war to social unrest. Though Nicholas’s life is often described as tragic, it was not fate that doomed the Romanovs—it was poor leadership and a blinkered faith in autocracy.

Based on a trove of new archival discoveries, The Last Tsar narrates how Nicholas’s resistance to reform doomed the monarchy. Encompassing the captivating personalities of the era—the bumbling Nicholas, his spiteful wife Alexandra, the family’s faith healer Rasputin—it untangles the dramatic struggle by Russia’s aristocratic, military, and legislative elite to reform the monarchy. By rejecting compromise, Nicholas undermined his supporters at crucial moments. His blunders cleared the way for all-out civil war and the eventual rise of the Soviet Union.

Definitive and engrossing, The Last Tsar uncovers how Nicholas II stumbled into revolution, taking his family, the Romanov dynasty, and the whole Russian Empire down with him.

23/08/2025

R50
The Riviera Set by Mary S. Lovell
C-Format Paperback
Condition: GOOD - A typical, average used book. Will have small/minor signs of wear, though no tears on either cover or pages. Binding is sound. All of our books are second hand (Unless stated otherwise) and may contain markings, signatures and/or gift inscriptions

Genres: Nonfiction / History / Biography / France / Memoir / Travel

The Riviera Set is the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped and politicked at the Chateau de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of forty years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the pl***oy Prince Aly Khan in 1960.

At the heart of this was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Chateau and brought together the likes of Noel Coward, the Aga Khan, the Windsors and two very saucy courtesans, Doris Castlerosse and Daisy Fellowes, who set out to be dangerous distractions to Winston Churchill as he worked on his journalism and biographies during his 'wilderness years' in the thirties.

After the War the story continued as the Chateau changed hands and Prince Aly Khan used it to entertain the Hollywood set, as well as launch his seduction of and eventual marriage to Rita Hayworth. Mary Lovell tells her story of high society behaviour with tremendous brio and relish, and this book has all the charm and fascination of her bestselling The Mitford Girls and The Churchills.

07/06/2025

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Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb Fitz and the Fool #2 739 pages, Trade Paperback Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). There no markings, inscriptions or signatures of any kind, pages are clean and vibrant. A Dance with Destiny In the heart of the Six Duchies, where ancient magics sti...

11/05/2025

Coffee, a Celebration of Diversity by Fulvio Eccardi & Vincenco Sandalj
228 Pages, Paperback
280mm x 210mm
Condition: AS NEW: Although technically second-hand, its condition is as new. It may have been kept in storage or warehoused, never been sold, or never read before.

This is a book for coffee professionals and coffee lovers alike, illustrating the many varied factors that play a role in creating the rich variety of flavours offered by different coffees. It is an encounter with the places, the peoples and the cultures of producing countries.

11/05/2025

R150

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
The Tawny Man #3
805 pages, Hardcover
1st Edition 2003
ISBN 0002247283
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). There no markings, inscriptions or signatures of any kind, pages are clean and vibrant.

The triumphant conclusion to the Tawny Man trilogy, from the author of the bestselling Farseer and Liveship Traders trilogies. The moving end to the tale of the Farseers, in which kingdoms must stand or fall on the beat of a dragon's wings, or a Fool's heart. A small and sadly untried coterie - the old assassin Chade, the serving-boy Thick, Prince Dutiful, and his reluctant Skillmaster, Fitz - sail towards the distant island of Aslevjal. There they must fulfil the Narcheska's challenge to her betrothed: to lay the head of the dragon Icefyre, whom legends tell is buried there deep beneath the ice, upon her hearth. Only with the completion of this quest can the marriage proceed, and the resulting alliance signal an end to war between the two kingdoms. It is not a happy ship: tensions between the folk of the Six Duchies and their traditional enemies, the Outislanders, lie just beneath the surface. Thick is constantly ill, and his random but powerful Skilling has taken on a dark and menacing tone, while Chade's fascination with the Skill is growing to the point of obsession. Having ensured that his beloved friend the Fool is safely left behind in Buckkeep, Fitz is guilt-stricken; but he is determined to keep his fate at bay, since prophecy foretells the Fool's death if he ever sets foot on the isle of the black dragon. But as their ship draws in towards Aslevjal a lone figure awaits them...

11/05/2025

R75

The Map of All Things by Kevin J Anderson
Terra Incognita #2
624 pages, Paperback
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). There no markings, inscriptions or signatures of any kind, pages are clean and vibrant.

The second volume of international bestseller Kevin J. Anderson's epic fantasy of intrigue, exploration and rival empires locked in a holy war.

11/05/2025

R75

The Edge of the World by Kevin J. Anderson
Terra Incognita #1
608 pages, Trade Paperback
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). There no markings, inscriptions or signatures of any kind, pages are clean and vibrant.

Terra Incognita - the blank spaces on the map, past the edge of the world, marked only by the words "here be monsters. "Two nations at war, fighting for dominion over the known, and undiscovered, world, pin their last hopes at ultimate victory on finding a land out of legend. Each will send their ships to brave the untamed seas, wild storms, sea serpents, and darker dangers unknown to any man. It is a perilous undertaking, but there will always be the impetuous, the brave and the mad who are willing to leave their homes to explore the unknown. Even unto the edge of the world...Kevin J. Anderson's spectacular fantasy debut is a sweeping tale of adventure on the high seas, as two warring kingdoms vie for the greatest treasure of them all.