A Wildlife Guide to Chile (CHI77, $19.95)

Sharon Chester hauled out her field notes and consulted Chilean colleagues for this splendid natural history guide, covering the wildlife, plants and nature of Chile in detail. With 120 color plates, maps, engaging succinct text and terrific introductory chapters, it's both compact and comprehensive.

Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All, A New Zealand Story (NZL96, $24.99)

In this endearing, offbeat memoir, Christina Thompson, an anthropologist and editor, effortlessly moves between well-told tales of European early encounters, mostly disastrous, with the Maori (her area of research) and the story of her surprising life with Seven, the Maori she married.

Atlas of Exploration (EXP63, $50.00)

This comprehensively illustrated and authoritative history by Oxford University Press combines maps, drawings, photographs and concise essays by experts including Ann Savours (Antarctic) and John Ure (South America).

First Class, Legendary Train Journeys Around the World (WLD126, $35.00)

Inspired by the steamer trunks of old, this beautifully packaged book by Patrick Poivre D'Arvor celebrates great trains, past and present, including the Orient Express, Trans-Siberian and California Zephyr.

National Geographic Society Exploration Experience (EXP66, $50.00)

Beau Riffenburgh chronicles the history of exploration with stories, maps, photographs, artifacts, maps on CD-ROM - and, this is the most fun of all, more than 30 historic documents, which can be removed, unfolded and examined. With a doctorate from Scott Polar Research Institute, where he is the editor of the Polar Record, Riffenburgh gives Antarctica and the Arctic its due.

China, Portrait of a Country by 76 Chinese Photographers (CHN525, $59.99)

A foreign correspondent and celebrated photojournalist, Heung Shing Liu selected iconic images by 76 contemporary Chinese photographers for this oversized visual history of triumph and hardship in China since 1948.

Canyon Wilderness of the Southwest (SWU251, $195.00)

The 200 photographs in this magnificent book celebrate the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion and lesser-known parks and preserves. Signed and numbered, this limited edition includes 10 stunning four-foot-long gatefolds and a signed print by author Jon Ortner (Angkor, Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire).

Antarctica, A Call to Action (ANT280, $24.95)

Sebastian Copeland captures the beauty of the frozen continent with a fresh eye in this charming little book, which includes a three-page list of sensible suggestions to protect the planet. It includes many images from the oversized Antarctica, The Global Warning.

The Andes, As the Condor Flies (SAM79, $35.00)

The product of extensive travels in the region (her stories are many), Tui's 350 stunning color photographs take in the full sweep of the Andes, its wildlife and landscapes, from the cloud forests of Ecuador to windswept Tierra del Fuego.

New Zealand, A Natural History (NZL76, $35.00)

Having relocated many years ago to Golden Bay on the South Island of New Zealand, Tui and Mark Jones present the wildlife, habitats and splendor of their adopted homeland in this oversized photographic celebration.

Albatross: Their World, Their Ways (BRD64, $49.95)

This remarkable collection of 300 photographs of the ocean wanderers, both at sea and on the nest, is not just beautiful. It's also an authoritative survey of the natural history, status and conservation of the world's Diomedeidae. Like the albatross, the roving tem of Tui de Roy, Mark Jones and Julian Fitter have logged many miles on the sea, their experience very much in evidence here. You haven't lived until you've seen Tui, hauled over the gunwale, head and shoulders plunged into icy water, to capture just the right photograph (and while driving the boat).

Oxford Comprehensive Atlas of the World (WLD152, $175.00)

With its beautiful shaded physical relief, crystal-clear type, city maps and individual maps of the 50 U.S. states, this extravagantly produced, leather-bound atlas shows off the world in striking, digital cartography. It fits much more easily on a desk than the Times Atlas but, as a tradeoff, it sacrifices some scale and includes fewer place names. 30% off the $250 price.

Oxford New Concise World Atlas (WLD149, $35.00)

An excellent value, this desk atlas features the same fine digital cartography and clear maps as its glamorous cousin.

The Pocket World Atlas (GEN104, $16.95)

Keep this handy reference, which includes a gazetteer of nations, time zone map and world statistics, within easy reach.

National Geographic

These striking 14-inch-diameter, illuminated globes -- constructed of nearly indestructible fiberglass -- are printed on the inside with multiple layers of ink and information, giving the globes the impression of depth. Featuring the instantly recognizable National Geographic cartography, these bigger globes really are better; the larger diameter (the standard desk model is 12 inches) means a better scale and many more place names. Available as desk or floor models, blue ocean or earth tone, $249-$679. Our most popular model, the Journey (GLB14, $249.00), pictured left, is a classic with a blue-gray base, semi-meridian and realistic color for land and sea.

JOURNALS

We like these supple Italian-made journals by teNeues for their lightweight heft, rich colors, shark-skin-textured leather covers, sewn binding and lightly lined paper. Individually boxed, they make a fine gift.

The large journal (6 x 8, $55), pictured left, is available in dark brown (our favorite), along with pleasing orange, basic black and forest green. The slightly smaller version ($45, 4 3/4/ x 6 1/2) comes in Light Green, Red, Saffron and Orange.

My Family and Other Animals (GRE35, $14.00)

Durrell recounts his hilarious, eventful childhood on sun-drenched Corfu in the 1930s in this first of his many books. Hilary Bradt, founder of Bradt Guides, friend and travel pioneer, recently picked it as her favorite travel book, available in a 50th anniversary edition along with its equally delightful sequel, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives (MED80, $14.00). With charming new covers by (guess who?) the talented Mick Wiggins.

(Masterpiece Theater made My Family and Other Animals into a 2006 movie starring Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as the unflappable Mrs. Durrell, now available on DVD.)

Fillets of Plaice (GRE356, $15.95)

The good folks at Godine have returned to print this farrago of five wickedly funny tales of Durrell's engagingly eccentric family and passion for all things in nature, skipping from Corfu to England, the British Cameroons and Jersey.

Prospero's Cell (GRE48, $12.00)

Also back in print is brother Larry's classic ode to Corfu, its history, myths and resilient people. It's set, not during childhood, but during the just-married, 25-year-old Durrell's five-year idyll on the island in the 1930s.

Make The Most of Your Time on Earth, A Rough Guide To The World Music (WLD137, $14.98)

This 3-CD boxed set features 30 choice tracks from artists across the globe.

Rough Guide Music Astor Piazzolla (ARG60, $14.95)

Practically a soundtrack to Buenos Aires, this superb anthology by the modernist maestro of tango includes the soulful Vuelvo al Sur.

Rough Guide Music Mali (WAF128, $14.98)

Much of the music is guitar and vocal driven but this compilation also features beautiful traditional instruments like the kora, njarka, balafon and djembe drum. Like all the titles, it comes with a mini-booklet on the music, the musicians and the people and culture of the place.

Think Global: World Christmas (WLD151, $14.95)

Working alongside Oxfam, the new Think Global compilations raise money and awareness of global issues. This disc celebrates the remarkable variety of Christmas music from around the world, from the Louisiana two-step and swamp blues to Venezuela's African-flavored parrandas and the haunting winter songs of Sweden (and without nary a Frosty the Snowman in sight).

AT THE MOVIES

Ranging from the eye-popping visuals of IMAX to groundbreaking new BBC documentaries and feature presentations from countries like Bhutan and Mongolia, movies bring destinations to life. This is a sampling of the DVDs we carry.

Galapagos, The Islands That Changed the World (GPS79, $19.98)

This stunning BBC documentary captures the rugged beauty, wildlife and history of the archipelago like never before.

Encounters at the End of the World (ANT292, $27.98)

The great Werner Herzog, who last made a film about grizzly bears, eschews penguins to focus on scientists, worker bees and other eccentrics at bustling McMurdo Station in this marvelously sardonic Antarctic doc, just released on DVD.

Life in the Freezer (ANT88, $14.98)

This David Attenborough production, set largely along the Antarctic Peninsula and much of it near their base on Cuverville Island, features amazing footage of the marine environment, penguins, birds and even people.

Kilimanjaro, To the Roof of Africa (EAF112, $19.99)

David Breashears' stunning film, originally presented in IMAX theatres, follows five trekkers and their local guide to the top of Africa's highest mountain.

The Honorary Consul (ARG85, $15.00)

Graham Greene swirls passion, ruin, politics and absurd hope in this tale, he called it his favorite, of a bungled kidnapping in Corrientes, a dusty Argentine city on the border with Paraguay. Not even a real diplomat, the whiskey drinking, broken down Charley Fortnum, a yerba farmer, is one of Greene's great creations.

The Snow Leopard (NPL03, $15.00)

The most perceptive, acutely observed and personal of all his books, Peter Matthiessen's vivid account of a five-week journey with George Schaller combines their quest for the magnificent cat with a moving introduction to Buddhism and the people and culture of the Himalayas.

In Patagonia (PAT01, $15.00)

Bruce Chatwin's masterpiece captures the spirit of the land, history, wildlife and people of Patagonia.

The Penguin Classics Library, Complete Collection (WLD150, $7,900.00)

Get the entire 1,082 Penguin Classics library (about 77 linear feet of shelf space, in case you are measuring) at 41% off the $13,413.30 retail price.