Linen hard cover, first edition of 700 copies, signed, design by Sybren Kuiper (-SYB-).

The book is about a region we've heard so much in the news over the last years - yet we don't have a knowledge of the history, the geological situation, we don't even have pictures that come to mind: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are the regions that Drake travelled about 15 times. With an excellent companion booklet, you get a dense overview including a map of the region and additional info on the photos in the book. I really like the idea to leave the information "out" of the photography and seperate it. But that's not the only thing that excites me about this gorgeous book. With it's rough cloth and the embossed rivers on the boards, the booklet held by a green rubber band, the boards that won't cover the spreads (a picture for the rivers not reaching the Aral sea anymore), photos that float over the edges - this is an outstanding production. Carolyn's view and her knowledge of the region accompanied by excellent photography makes this book stand far on top of many other current publications.

More info at Carolyn Drake's site.