An editorial invitation
Every place worth
understanding
deserves a book.
A Best of edition is not a brochure. It is not an annual report. It is not destination marketing.
It is a carefully edited publication that captures a market at a defining moment — the people, the enterprises, the ideas that make it what it is.
The volume outlasts the year it is made in. It is read by investors, editors, diplomats and successors. It is kept on shelves in embassies, boardrooms, libraries and homes. In ten years it becomes a primary source. In fifty, it becomes part of the record.
Two sides of
the same volume.
Every edition is co-produced. The bureau brings the publishing. The partner brings the market. Neither could make the book alone.
- 01The editorial framework
- 02Design and typography
- 03Production and print standards
- 04The international collection
- 05Long-term stewardship of the record
- 01Local knowledge and lived understanding
- 02The relationships that convene the volume
- 03Insight into the market and its moment
- 04Commitment across the arc of production
- 05Support for launch and distribution
The institutions
that convene a market.
Editions are commissioned or supported by the bodies that stand for a place. These are examples, not requirements.
- 01Governments
- 02Investment promotion agencies
- 03Chambers of commerce
- 04Tourism organisations
- 05Development agencies
- 06Industry associations
- 07Leading companies
- 08Universities
- 09Foundations
- 10Independent publishers
Most editions begin with one convening institution and grow to include others. The bureau does not require a particular structure; it looks for the standing to represent the market.
From invitation
to bound volume.
Nine considered moments. An edition typically takes twelve to eighteen months. It is deliberate rather than fast.
- 01
Invitation
A conversation opens. The market, the moment and the convening institution are considered together.
- 02
Editorial planning
The scope of the volume is agreed. Chapters are sketched. The editorial standard is set.
- 03
Research
The bureau and the partner begin the record. Sources are identified. The market is read in depth.
- 04
Interviews
The voices of the volume are met in person. Leaders, editors, founders, custodians.
- 05
Writing
The material is edited into chapters. Every entry is checked against the record and against the market.
- 06
Design
The volume is typeset and laid out to the standard of the catalogue. Photography is commissioned or selected.
- 07
Production
The book is printed and bound to be kept — on presses and papers chosen for permanence.
- 08
Launch
The edition is presented in the market it documents, and released into the wider catalogue.
- 09
The collection
The volume enters the permanent record and joins every edition the bureau has published since 2003.
Seven qualities of
an outstanding volume.
Editions are judged not by what they contain but by whether they will still be worth opening in a decade. These are the qualities the bureau looks for.
Editorial integrity.
Every entry earns its place on the page. Nothing is included to please, nothing omitted to protect.
Representative voices.
The volume speaks for the market — its leaders, its makers, its editors, its outsiders.
Outstanding photography.
Portraits and landscapes commissioned for the book. First-hand. Slow. Unmistakably of the place.
Authentic local perspective.
The market speaks in its own register. The bureau edits; it does not translate the character out.
Useful insight.
Read closely, the volume tells you how the market works, not only what it looks like.
Long-term relevance.
Chapters that will still be read in ten years. Facts that will still stand. Design that will still hold.
Beautiful production.
Paper, binding and printing chosen so the volume is kept, opened and returned to.
Every new edition
joins a longer record.
A single volume documents one market. Read alongside the catalogue, it becomes a coordinate in a wider reading of the world. The collection has been growing continuously since 2003.
- Africa
- Middle East
- Europe
- Asia
- Americas
- Oceania
Three volumes · from the catalogue
Write to the bureau
about your market.
A short note is enough. Tell us where you are, who you are, and why this moment matters. The bureau reads every note and replies personally. If a partnership might be right, a longer conversation follows.
This is the beginning of a book, not the end of a form.
- Reply within
- Ten working days
- Enquiries per year
- Read, all of them
- Editions per market
- One at a time