“At its roots, Jamaica is soul, rhythm and culture come to life.” – Cedella Marley

Assouline’s series of travel books manages to capture the indescribable, inarticulable, essential qualities of a place, distilling a destination’s romance and wonder into a story that’s equal parts photography, history and philosophy.

That’s precisely what Lisa Lovatt-Smith and Novia McDonald Whyte have done with “Jamaica Vibes,” with photography by Slim Aarons, Adrian Boot and others.

The book begins with a foreword by Chris Blackwell, the legendary music producer who helped bring Bob Marley’s music to the world and founded the legendary Island Outpost hotel collection.

In classic Assouline style, the book marries images of the island’s stunning scenery with shots of the boldfaced names that have made Jamaica what it is today — and the celebrities who have always been drawn to the place, from Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey to Noel Coward and Ian Fleming.

Fleming, coincidentally, conceived of the James Bond character and wrote all of the Bond novels at his Goldeneye estate, which is now a luxury resort part of Blackwell’s Island Outpost portfolio. Bond, a figure who plays prominently in some of the book’s stunning images (including some very cool behind-the-scenes shots from Roger Moore’s Live and Let Die), is an essential part of the island’s modern story. “We believe Jamaica is Bond’s spiritual home,” Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli say in the book.

Jamaica Vibes is a vibrant journey to the rainforests of Port Antonio to the beaches of MoBay and a dynamic jaunt through a history of Jamaican glamour: Mick Jagger and Peter Tosh filming a music video at Blackwell’s Strawberry Hill; Sintra Bronte’s iconic Jamaica Tourist Board poster; the sunken garden at Goldeneye; Sting on a motorbike in Kingston; even Queen Elizabeth II on her jaunt to the island in 1994.

“There is no way that Jamaica doesn’t possess you,” say Austin and Gabriela Hurst.”The moment we step foot in Jamaica we are taken by its magic … Jamaica makes you feel alive completely.”

That happens the moment you begin to turn the pages; there’s an extra dynamism to the hues, a heightened sharpness to the shapes. The experience one feels visiting the island, of extra-green mountains and ripe soursop and high-ester rum, it’s all been transmuted right into paper.

As with the greatest travel books, Jamaica Vibes takes you somewhere.

“I have always found all the space I need, all the adventure I crave, in Jamaica,” Blackwell writes in the foreword. “My vision has always been to create a world designed to work and exist in harmony with the environment, people, life and culture that surround us. Because if you know where to look, Jamaica can be heaven.”

For more, visit Assouline.