Slideshow: The Best Photo Books of 2008

The Vale of Kashmir
by John Isaac (Norton, $65)
You might expect a book about Kashmir to dwell on the religious and cultural strife that has roiled the disputed Indian state, but Isaac had seen enough of that in his 25 years as a United Nations photographer. Instead, he shows us what's at stake, in human and natural terms, should the violence worsen. Isaac's Kashmir is a place of deep peace and quiet, where Hindu, Moslem, and Mother Nature seem to live in harmony. The centerpiece is Dal Lake, which Isaac documentend from a Victorian-era houseboat: Fruit and flower merchants ply their trade on canoe-like vessels brimming with brightly colored vegetable matter, while masses of seaweed are harvested to create Srinagar's famous floating gardens. -- r.h.