Beautiful Dorset is a book that showcases photographically the most beautiful places in this southwest county. Divided into six chapters, the first is a mix of text and photos, the remainder a series of photo essays. Chapter 1 is a general introduction, describing the county’s landscape, wildlife, history, culture and tourism. Chapter 2 covers photographically urban Dorset, the towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch. Chapter 3 showcases the towns and countryside of inland east Dorset. Chapter 4’s photo essay focuses on the eastern half of the Jurassic Coast, plus the Purbeck area. Chapter 5 concentrates on the western half of the Jurassic Coast, including Weymouth and Lyme Regis. Chapter 6’s photo essay covers the inland parts of west Dorset, including Dorchester and Sherborne. Beautiful Dorset is the fourth in a series of Portrait of a County books, following on from Beautiful Devon, Beautiful Cornwall, Beautiful Somerset and Wild Southwest.

Nigel Hicks trained originally as a biologist, but has been a professional writer and photographer for over 25 years, based mostly in Devon, southwest England. He has written and/or photographed for a string of travel, natural history and photography books, published by Dorling Kindersley, New Holland, David and Charles, Focal Press, GMC Publishing, and the Oxford-based John Beaufoy Publishing. Nigel also writes and photographs for a number of magazines, and shoots extensively for the National Geographic Image Collection. Nigel is a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP), the highest qualification in the UK’s leading professional photography body.