Provence is a land apart, a territory of outstanding beauty and distinction that has fascinated outsiders since earliest times. It is in its smaller communities that the true Provençal spirit can be found. Hugh Palmer’s radiant photographs and Michael Jacobs’ evocative accounts of the most beautiful villages of Provence opens with the villages of Vaucluse and the Bouches-du-Rhône, then moves east through the Var to the mountains of the Alpine départments and its fortified hill villages, drawing together the special characteristics of the region. In the brilliant sunlight falling across the tightly grouped terracotta roofs and the velvety shade beneath great plane trees in an ancient square, the authors encounter the country of Marcel Pagnol and Jean de Florette, the best-loved of all French provinces. ‘The photographs of simple churches, fountains, shady squares and cobbled lanes demand leisurely observation … beautiful. Highly recommended for travel and architecture collections’ – Library Journal