Van Greaves, a commercial photographer in Birmingham for many years, gives an unusual and often surprising portrait of his home city in this beautiful book. Through over 140 stunning and original images, Van Greaves shows Britain's Second City in a refreshingly different light. His sensitive camera captures Birmingham old and new; from the ultra modern new development around the Rotunda in the Bull Ring and the new shopping centre of The Pallisades above New Street Station, to the older Birmingham which still exists around the cobbled streets of the Jewellery Quarter, the Jacobean elegance of Aston Hall, and the confident Victorian swagger of Victoria Square, the Council House and the Town Hall. Birmingham's unheralded countryside is not forgotten either, from the beech-clad heights of the Lickey Hills to the surprising wilderness of Sutton Park.

Author Biography

Van Greaves is a commercial and landscape photographer who was born in Birmingham and lived at Quinton for many years. After working as a Planning Officer, he became a professional photographer in 1980. Perhaps his best-known work was the provision of the photographer for From Snowdonia to the Gower (Diadem, 1988).