Don't be put off by the dry title: this is the story of the most fascinating theatrical experiment of the late 20th century. The director Peter Brook's endless quest for the ideal places to stage his radical productions (as likely to be in a quarry as a wrecked Parisian music hall) is told by the people who organized it, with commentary from Brook himself.

By no means all coffee-table books are bad. I have a soft spot for

. This is an utterly beautiful collection of monochrome photographs of the most ancient structures in England and Wales, balanced by a knowledgeable and entertaining text.