Michelangelo: The Taddei Tondo  Royal Academy Publications, 2017

The definitive study of this enigmatic sculpture, this new book tells the story of Michelangelo's rivalry with Leonardo in creating a new interpretation of the Madonna and Child theme, charts the journey of the tondo to the Royal Academy, and concludes with a fresh look at Michelangelo's unique intellectual experimentation and his attitude to the 'unfinished'.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michelangelo-Buonarroti-Taddei-Alison-Cole/dp/191035066

Italian Renaissance Courts: Art, Pleasure and Power  Laurence King, 2016

While the story of the famous powers of 15th-century Italy - Florence, Venice and Rome - is well known, this book relates the story of the other famous Italian powers: the princely courts of Naples, Urbino, Ferrara, Mantua and Milan. It examines their rich, distinct and varied cultures, while also exploring their complex relationships with other courtly centres in Italy (such as Florence and the highly anomalous Papal Court of Rome), Europe and beyond. Published by Laurence King in the UK, and distributed by Chronicle and Thames & Hudson internationally, the book builds on its classic forerunner (Virtue and Magnificence: Art of the Italian Renaissance Courts: 1995) and encompasses the latest scholarship to present a fresh view of the Renaissance and a study of art's vexed relationship with power.

Perspective  Dorling Kindersley 1992

Produced in association with the National Gallery, London in 1992, this book took a new approach to the science of perspective, interweaving artistic analysis with perspective theory and practice to provide a complete understanding of the subject. Specially selected works, either representing a key development in perspective technique or showing how a specific artist responded to the subject at hand, are studied in depth, together with the nuts and bolts of perspective construction.

Colour  Dorling Kindersley, 1993

Produced in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington in 1993, this book examines the use of colour in art, drawing on a detailed scientific analysis of different techniques as well as innovations in colour theory over the centuries. From Ancient Greek frescoes to Klee watercolours, from gilded altarpieces to Turner oils, this book shows how artists created and manipulated colour to highlight elements of a narrative, inspire religious wonder and awe, create naturalistic or optical effects, or for purely expressive purposes.

Renaissance  Dorling Kindersley, 1994

Produced in association with the National Gallery, London in 1994, this book explores the cultural centres of Italy and Northern Europe, together with the artists who made them famous - from Donatello and Leonardo da Vinci to van Eyck and Durer. Drawing on contemporary documents and accounts, and  interweaving artistic practice with biography and social history, it provides contextual discussion of some of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance, while at the same time defining what made this period in art history unique .

Concepts of Beauty in Renaissance Art  Ashgate, 1998

'The perception of beauty in landscape in the quattrocento' is one of 15 scholarly papers offering an historical overview of  art historians' study of the Renaissance concept of beauty. Published by Ashgate in 1998, and  edited by Francis Ames-Lewis and Mary Rogers, the book reveals that ways of perceiving, conceiving and creating beauty were as diverse as the cultural influences at work at that time. Alison's contribution draws on her Warburg thesis on Renaissance landscape depiction, and examines the contemporary standard for a 'beautiful' landscape. 

Bod's Way and Bod's New Leaf  Contender, 2002 and 2003

Published by Contender Entertainment in 2002 and 2003, these two Bod books, written by Alison Cole and illustrated by Lo Cole, revive their parents' much-loved creation - the book and TV character Bod - who has developed a cult following since his first appearance on  BBC's 'Watch with Mother' in the 1970s.  The books explore the quirky world of Bod and his friends - Aunt Flo, P.C. Copper, Frank the Postman and Farmer Barleymow - and are written for both children and nostalgic adults.