Natural History Books

Book Synopsis''One of the greatest European prose writers'' Philip RothIn the autumn of 1965, Bohumil Hrabal bought a weekend cottage in the countryside east of Prague. There, until his death, he tended to an ever-growing, unruly community of cats. This is his confessional, tender and shocking meditation on the joys and torments of his life with them; how he became increasingly overwhelmed by the demands of the things he loved, even to the brink of madness.''Dark and strange ... It begins with warmth and fluffiness, but soon descends into Dostoevskian horror'' Daily Telegraph''The Czech master exposed the animal within us'' New YorkerTrade ReviewOne of the great prose stylists of the 20th century; the scourge of state censors; the gregarious bar hound and lover of gossip, beer, cats and women -- Parul SehgalHrabal, to my mind, is one of the greatest European prose writers -- Philip RothHrabal was, for all his eccentricity, a major figure in 20th-century world literature -- Jonathan CoeThe very best writer -- Milan KunderaA most sophisticated novelist, with a gusting humor and a hushed tenderness of detail -- Julian BarnesA stunningly revealing, occasionally deranged exploration of self, with cat ownership the frame through which that exploration is presented, by one of postwar Europe's greatest writers -- Kevin O'Rourke * Michigan Quarterly Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn our quest to find a place for quiet reflection, these simple but beautifully curatedbooks on the wonders of the natural world provide a place for rest and contemplation. This book features a selection of quotes, extracts and poetry on thefolklore, wisdom, and customs of the countryside.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith a new afterword, Why You Are Here: A speech on the opening of the COP26 climate summitAs a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day - the loss of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity. I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet contains my witness statement, and my vision for the future - the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake, and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right.We have the opportunity to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited.All we need is the will do so.

Read more less

Book Synopsis*The Sunday Times Bestseller*Extraordinary Insects is a joy' The TimesA Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year 2019A journey into the weird, wonderful and truly astonishing lives of the small but mighty creatures we can't live without.Insects influence our ecosystem like a ripple effect on water. They arrived when life first moved to dry land, they preceded and survived the dinosaurs, they outnumber the grains of sand on all the world's beaches, and they will be here long after us.Working quietly but tirelessly, they give us food, uphold our ecosystems, can heal our wounds and even digest plastic. They could also provide us with new solutions to the antibiotics crisis, assist in disaster zones and inspire airforce engineers with their flying techniques.But their private lives are also full of fun, intrigue and wonder. Here, we will discover life and death, drama and dreams, all on a millimetric scale. Like it or not, Earth is the planet of insects, and this is their extraordinary storyTrade Review‘Extraordinary Insects is a joy’ The Times ‘Erudite, enlightening and entertaining (…) a timely reminder of the fragility of our ecosystem and the vital role that insects play in the future of the planet and humanity’s existence’ Countryman ‘Extraordinary Insects is packed with wondrous information. There are more than 200 million insects on Earth for every human being and anyone wanting to learn more about them will find this book fascinating’ Daily Express ‘A fascinating new book [that] tells the remarkable story of insects living right under our noses’ The Sun ‘The enthusiasm of Professor Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson for insects is infectious. She communicates her extensive scientific knowledge in elegant, readable prose. A brilliant, informative read, full of fascinating facts about the species that help keep the world on an even keel.’ Sunday Express ‘[Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson] guides us round a huge cabinet of curiosities, and is the best kind of teacher. The stories she tells are so strange and absorbing that we don’t notice that we’re being systematically educated. [She] champions the insects primarily to champion us. She has a serious purpose, and succeeds magnificently.’ Evening Standard ‘A riotous party of colour, noise and humour, from the scatological to the sublime.’ Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine ‘Sverdrup-Thygeson, a Norwegian professor of life sciences, writes with such infectious and well-informed enthusiasm that it’s impossible not to develop a new-found respect for insects.’ Reader’s Digest ‘This excellent book by a Norwegian entomologist is filled with such infectious enthusiasm for the insect world…It’s a book that will change the way you see the world. A genuine must-read.’ WI Life Magazine ‘A refreshing and surprising insight into some of the most underappreciated critters.’ Magic Radio Book Club

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book Synopsis* Spacecraft missions to nearby planets* The Library of ancient Alexandria* The human brain* Egyptian hieroglyphics* The origin of life* The death of the sun* The evolution of galaxies* The origins of matter, suns and worldsThe story of fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution transforming matter and life into consciousness, of how science and civilisation grew up together, and of the forces and individuals who helped shape modern science. A story told with Carl Sagan''s remarkable ability to make scientific ideas both comprehensible and exciting.Trade ReviewThis book made me fall in love with physics, which - as I always hated science at school - is no mean feat. It looks at everything from ancient Egypt to the possibility of alien life. Pop science at its best -- Matt Haig** 'Enticing, imaginative, readable, iridescent * The New York TIMES *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFOYLES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARA SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERTHE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING - HIGHLY COMMENDEDLONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, TELEGRAPH, PROSPECT, THE NEW YORKER AND BBC HISTORY WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH''The best book on the history of life on Earth I have ever read'' Tom Holland''Epically cinematic... A book of almost unimaginable riches'' Sunday TimesThis is the past as we''ve never seen it before. Otherlands is an epic, exhilarating journey into deep time, showing us the Earth as it used to exist, and the worlds that were here before ours.Award-winning young palaeobiologist Thomas Halliday immerses us in a series of ancient landscapes, from the mammoth steppe in Ice Age Alaska to the lush rainforests of Eocene Antarctica, with its colonies of giant penguins, to Ediacaran Australia, where the moon is far brighter than ours today. We visit the birthplace of humanity; we hear the crashing of the highest waterfall the Earth has ever known; and we watch as life emerges again after the asteroid hits, and the age of the mammal dawns.Otherlands is a staggering imaginative feat: an emotional narrative that underscores the tenacity of life - yet also the fragility of seemingly permanent ecosystems, including our own. To read it is to see the last 500 million years not as an endless expanse of unfathomable time, but as a series of worlds, simultaneously fabulous and familiar.Sunday Times bestseller, March 2023Trade ReviewThis book takes us through the natural history of previous forms of life in the most beguiling way. It makes you think about the past differently and it certainly makes you think about the future differently. This is a monumental work and I suspect it will be a very important book for future generations -- Ray Mears, Chair of the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature WritingThe word "original" is really overworked. But Thomas Halliday has produced a book the like of which I have never come across -- Jeremy PaxmanAn extraordinary history of our almost-alien Earth... Epically cinematic... The writing is so palpably alive. A book of almost unimaginable riches. It is a book that will make its own solid and lasting contribution. It could well be the best I read in 2022 - and I know it's only January -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *A poet among palaeontologists -- David P. Barash * Wall Street Journal *A mesmerising journey into those vast stretches of Earth's pre-history that lie behind us, on such a scale that you experience a kind of temporal vertigo just thinking about it... [Halliday is] a brilliant writer, his lyrical style vividly conjuring myriad lost worlds... It's obviously a bit of a gamble choosing one's Book of the Year in March - but there's a very good chance already that mine will be Otherlands. Stunning -- Christopher Hart * Mail on Sunday *An impressive, tightly packed, long view of the natural world. In cinematic terms, this book would be a blockbuster... Riveting scientific reading; a remarkable achievement of imagination grounded in fact -- NJ McGarrigle * Irish Times *An immersive world tour of prehistoric life... Halliday never loses sight of the bigger picture, nimbly marshalling a huge array of insights thrown up by recent research. Each chapter gives not only a vivid snapshot of an ecosystem in action but also insights into geology, climate science, evolution and biochemistry... Mind-blowing -- Neville Hawcock * Financial Times *A sweeping, lyrical biography of Earth -- the geology, the biology, the extinctions and the ever-shifting ecology that defines our living planet -- Adam Rutherford * BBC Radio 4 Start the Week *Superb... [An] epic, near-hallucinatory natural history of the living earth... Dazzling -- Simon Ings * Telegraph *Remarkable... Ingenious... A work of immense imagination [...] rooted firmly in the actual science -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *A fascinating journey through Earth's history... [Halliday] is appropriately lavish in his depiction of the variety and resilience of life, without compromising on scientific accuracy... To read Otherlands is to marvel not only at these unfamiliar lands and creatures, but also that we have the science to bring them to life in such vivid detail -- Gege Li * New Scientist *Riveting... An intense and imaginative reading of fossils as runes that tell us about our own times, and possible future. Halliday is a Time Lord at heart, eager to lead us back to, say, the Permian or Oligocene epochs and unpack their lessons for 21st Century humanity. For all its scholarship, this is a very readable book, full of literary reference and accessible metaphor. Otherlands is also a wise manual for adaptive change rather than a prophecy of inevitable doom -- Matthew D'Ancona * Tortoise *Thomas Halliday offers a 550m-year tour of the incredible diversity of life that has existed on our planet... Halliday's trick is to tell his story in reverse. The first hominids exit early; the continents merge and drift and merge again; the sounds of the cretaceous forest fall silent as we pass beyond the evolution of birdsong. Life retreats from land to ocean, and the first eyes give way to the sightless world of the Ediacaran, an alien realm of crawling beings -- David Farrier * Prospect *A brilliant series of reconstructions of life in the deep past, richly imagined from the fine details of the fossil record... A real achievement... Reading Halliday's book is as near to the experience of visiting these ancient worlds as you are likely to get -- Jon Turney * Arts Desk *Writing with gusto and bravado [...] Halliday has honed a unique voice... Otherlands is a verbal feast. You feel like you are there on the Mammoth Steppe, some 20,000 years ago, as frigid winds blow off the glacial front... Along the way, we learn astounding facts -- Steve Brusatte * Scientific American *Vivid... An intricate analysis of our planet's interconnected past, it is impossible to come away from Otherlands without awe for what may lie ahead -- Amancai Biraben * Independent *Halliday takes us on a journey into deep time in this epic book, showing us Earth as it used to be and the worlds that were here before ours -- ‘The Hottest Books of the Year Ahead’ * Independent *This is a piece of nature writing that covers millions of years, from the very start of evolution, while capturing the almost unthinkable ways geography has shifted and changed over time. Epic in scope and executed with charming enthusiasm, Otherlands looks set to be a big talking point for fans of non-fiction in 2022 -- ‘The 15 New Novels And Non-Fiction Books To Read In 2022’ * Mr Porter *Palaeobiologist Thomas Halliday embraces a yet more epic timescale in Otherlands: A World in the Making, touring the many living worlds that preceded ours, from the mammoth steppe in glaciated Alaska to the lush rainforests of Eocene Antarctica. If you have ever wondered what sound a pterosaur's wings made in flight, this is the book for you -- 'The best science books coming your way in 2022’ * New Scientist *Full of wonder and fascination, exquisitely written, this is time travel of spectacular dimensions - a journey into our planet's evolution and the world in which we live. A compellingly important read -- Isabella Tree, author of WILDINGThe best book on the history of life on Earth I have ever read -- Tom Holland, author of DOMINIONThomas Halliday's debut is a kaleidoscopic and evocative journey into deep time. He takes quiet fossil records and complex scientific research and brings them alive - riotous, full-coloured and three-dimensional. You'll find yourself next to giant two-metre penguins in a forested Antarctica 41 million years ago or hearing singing icebergs in South Africa some 444 million years ago. Maybe most importantly, Otherlands is a timely reminder of our planet's impermanence and what we can learn from the past -- Andrea Wulf, author of THE INVENTION OF NATUREDeep time is very hard to capture - even to imagine - and yet Thomas Halliday has done so in this fascinating volume. He wears his grasp of vast scientific learning lightly; this is as close to time travel as you are likely to get -- Bill McKibben, author of FALTERAn absolutely gripping adventure story, exploring back through the changing vistas of our own planet's past. Earth has been many different worlds over its planetary history, and Thomas Halliday is the perfect tour guide to these past landscapes, and the extraordinary creatures that inhabited them. Otherlands is science writing at its very finest -- Lewis Dartnell, author of ORIGINSOtherlands is one of those rare books that's both deeply informative and daringly imaginative. It will change the way you look at the history of life, and perhaps also its future -- Elizabeth Kolbert, author of THE SIXTH EXTINCTIONThis stunning biography of our venerable Earth, detailing her many ages and moods, is an essential travel guide to the changing landscapes of our living world. As we hurtle into the Anthropocene, blindly at the helm of this inconstant planet, Halliday gives us our bearings within the panorama of deep time. Aeons buckle under his pen: the world before us made vivid; the paradox of our permanence and impermanence visceral. Wonderful -- Gaia Vince, author of TRANSCENDENCEStirring, surprising and beautifully written, Otherlands offers glimpses of times so different to our own they feel like parallel worlds. In its lyricism and the intimate attention it pays to nonhuman life, Thomas Halliday's book recalls Rachel Carson's Under the Sea Wind, and marks the arrival of an exciting new voice -- Cal Flynn, author of ISLANDS OF ABANDONMENTImaginative -- Andrew Robinson * Nature *This study of our prehistoric earth is "beyond cinematic", James McConnachie says. "It could well be the best book I read in 2022 -- Robbie Millen and Andrew Holgate, Books of the Year * Sunday Times *It's phenomenally difficult for human brains to grasp deep time. Even thousands of years seem unfathomable, with all human existence before the invention of writing deemed 'prehistory', a time we know very little about. Thomas Halliday's book Otherlands helps to ease our self-centred minds into these depths. Moving backwards in time, starting with the thawing plains of the Pleistocene (2.58 million - 12,000 years ago) and ending up in the marine world of the Ediacaran (635-541 mya), he devotes one chapter to each of the intervening epochs or periods and, like a thrilling nature documentary, presents a snapshot of life at that time. It's an immersive experience, told in the present tense, of these bizarre 'otherlands', populated by creatures and greenery unlike any on Earth today -- Books of the Year * Geographical *Each chapter of this literary time machine takes us further back in prehistory, telling vivid stories about ancient creatures and their alien ecologies, ending 550 million years ago -- The Telegraph Cultural Desk, Books of the Year * Telegraph *The largest-known asteroid impact on Earth is the one that killed the dinosaurs 65?million years ago, but that is a mere pit stop on Thomas Halliday's evocative journey into planetary history in Otherlands. Each chapter of this literary time machine takes us further back into the deep past, telling vivid stories about ancient creatures and their alien ecologies, until at last we arrive 550?million years ago in the desert of what is now Australia, where no plant life yet covers the land. Halliday notes the urgency of reducing carbon emissions in the present to protect our settled patterns of life, but adds: "The idea of a pristine Earth, unaffected by human biology and culture, is impossible." It's an epic lesson in the impermanence of all things -- Steven Poole, Books of the Year * Telegraph *The world on which we live is "undoubtedly a human planet", Thomas Halliday writes in this extraordinary debut. But "it has not always been, and perhaps will not always be". Humanity has dominated the Earth for a tiny fraction of its history. And that History is vast. We tend to lump all dinosaurs, for example, into one period in the distant past. But more time passed between the last diplodocus and the first tyrannosaurus than has passed between the last tyrannosaurus and the present day. A mind-boggling fact. This is a glorious, mesmerising guide to the past 500 million years bought to life by this young palaeobiologist's rich and cinematic writing -- Ben Spencer, Books of the Year * Sunday Times *A book that I really want to read but haven't yet bought - so I hope it goes into my Christmas stocking - is Otherlands: A World in the Making by Thomas Halliday. It sounds so amazing - a history of the world before history, before people. He's trying to write the history of the organisms and the plants and the creatures and everything else as the world grows from protozoic slime or whatever we emerged from. It sounds like an absolutely incredible effort of imagination. I think that Christmas presents should be books you can curl up with and get engrossed in and transported by - and Otherlands sounds like exactly that -- Michael Wood, Books of the Year * BBC History Magazine *But, of course, not all history is human history, Otherlands, by Thomas Halliday, casts its readers further and further back, past the mammoths, past the dinosaurs, back to an alien world of shifting rock and weird plants. It is a marvel -- Books of the Year * Prospect *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA dog-owner's bible for a wealth of fun, welcoming and quirky adventures in the UK and Ireland.A staggering one third of British households now own a dog as a pet, meaning dog-friendly days out and weekend trips are becoming ever more popular. Finding reliable and comprehensive information on dog-friendly activities, though, is getting harder thanks to the deluge of online content, much of which doesn't offer in-depth information on the kinds of things dog owners need to know. Dog Days Out solves that problem, offering 365 ideas for things to do around the UK with your four-legged friend, such as long rambles in the countryside, brilliant beaches to play fetch on, and exciting attractions and quirky accommodation options. From the rugged countryside of Ireland and Northern Ireland to the beaches of Cornwall, Kent and the Scottish Highlands, plus castles, country houses and cracking walks to be had in between, this book will provide an abundance of ideas for an hour, half a day or a whole day out to suit all weathers. Gorgeous maps and beautiful photography make this both an aspirational and endlessly useful read. The long list of brilliant activities is accompanied by essential practical information for dog owners, such as local bylaws, rules for dogs, wildlife to be aware of, safety tips, solo travel with dogs, activities with reactive dogs, and accessible dog days out.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Wainwright Prize, Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of Dara McAnulty's world, from spring to summer, autumn to winter, on his home patch, at school, in the wild and in his head. Evocative, raw and beautifully written, this very special book vividly explores the natural world from the perspective of an autistic teenager juggling homework, exams and friendships alongside his life as a conservationist and environmental activist. With a sense of awe and wonder, Dara describes in meticulous detail encounters in his garden and the wild, with blackbirds, whooper swans, red kites, hen harriers, frogs, dandelions, skylarks, bats, cuckoo flowers, Irish hares and many more species. The power and warmth of his words also draw an affectionate and moving portrait of a close-knit family making their way in the world.Trade Review"His portrait of loving parents raising three neurodivergent children on poetry, punk and puffins is profoundly moving." Alex Preston, The Observer; "Rich poeticism courses through the writing that belies his years." Hilary A White, Irish Independent; "Like reading William Blake or Ted Hughes, it really is a strange and magical experience...surely one of the most talked about nature books, or any books, this year." The Daily Mail; "I adored it." Lauren St John.; '...the fanfare is wholly justified: this is an astonishingly assured book for one so young.' Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller (Non-fiction Book of the Month, June 2020); "This lovely and remarkable book." Charlotte Moore, The Spectator; 'an extraordinary voice and vision: brave, poetic, ethical, lyrical'. Robert Macfarlane; "Breathtaking." Philip Marsden; 'McAnulty's writing glows with his deep sympathy for the natural world' Tim Flannery

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book Synopsis_______________WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTIONTHE TOP 2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEKAN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR_______________Mudlark (/mAdla;k/) noun A person who scavenges for usable debris in the mud of a river or harbourLara Maiklem has scoured the banks of the Thames for over fifteen years, in pursuit of the objects that the river unearths: from Neolithic flints to Roman hair pins, medieval buckles to Tudor buttons, Georgian clay pipes to Victorian toys. These objects tell her about London and its lost ways of life.Moving from the river's tidal origins in the west of the city to the point where it meets the sea in the east, Mudlarking is a search for urban solitude and history on the River Thames, which Lara calls the longest archaeological site in England.As she has discovered, it is often the tiniest objects that tell the greatest storTrade ReviewThis is a quirky and delightful read, wonderfully evocative of London’s gloopy, ghost-haunted river * Daily Mail *A treasure. One of the best books I’ve read in years -- Tracy BormanReveals to us the fascinating and poignant micro-world of London's history -- Hallie RubenholdEnchanting. It made even a capsized cynic like me feel more sentimental about the Thames. In fact, I am quite tempted to join Maiklem on the riverbed looking for treasure * Sunday Times *Mudlarks are river scavengers, but Lara Maiklem is more like a time traveller. Her prose has none of the self-conscious sensibility that defines contemporary nature writing; her thoughtful sentences read as though she were talking to herself. There is a great deal to learn from these pages, not least the insight that finding lost things is the best way of losing yourself. It is, above all, her wisdom that makes Lara Maiklem such restful company * Guardian *Maiklem persists, in this weirdly engaging book, in seeking out a curious beauty. Maiklem’s description of the fog is worthy of Dickens or Joseph Conrad. Maiklem pungently evokes the broken bridges, slippery river stairs, causeways, jetties and boatyards. No one has looked at these odd corners since Sherlock Holmes * Sunday Telegraph *Maiklem’s storytelling shines. Her imagined histories for her special finds read like waterborne fairy stories, a hard kernel of truth clothed in mythical finery. Reading it, I felt like I was down on the foreshore myself, sifting through the pages for titbits * Daily Telegraph *A lovely, lyrical, gently meandering book, filled with fascinating diversions and detail * Literary Review *Maiklem's enthusiasm is infectious, and her reimagining of the lives of those who parted with these items is an illuminated joy * i *Whoever buys it is blessed. I love the fact that [Maiklem] makes herself the centre of this huge, timeless, endless story that reaches from the distant past and flows past all our consciousnesses out to a place far beyond the reach of the estuary. Lara is such a natural writer; every page just tingles with her imagination. It is a love letter to life itself -- Ian MortimerMaiklem has an infectious love of linking the present with the past. It is historic detail like this that makes Mudlarking much more than just a lengthy list of discarded bric-a-brac. Lara is a romantic, motivated primarily by the human stories behind the objects. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it is the making of many an author. And Lara has it in spades * Daily Mail *Maiklem augments the Thamesian tally, summoning old Londoners out of silty suspension from a discarded Victoria Cross or a pot-lid. There are other mudlarking books, but this one offers engaging insight into an amphibian ambience of strongly marked characters, semi-secret exploits and outlandish theories. Maiklem is not alone in resorting to the river for salvation as much as salvage * Spectator *A beautifully written memoir of one woman’s relationship with the sacred Thames and the ghosts of its past. Lara Maiklem’s book on mudlarking is as deep and as rich as the Thames and its treasures. Fascinating -- Stanley TucciA hybrid of personal memoir, London history and literary cabinet of curiosities * Telegraph *Maiklem’s knowledge and skill are evident and unarguable. [She] leaves the door open for the rest of us: with a bit of luck and patience you too, she suggests, could spot something interesting on the foreshore, ask around, take it to a museum and end up owning a little bit of history. What a thrill -- Caught by the River[An] enthralling and evocative history of London and its people -- Book of the Month * Bookseller *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFind out if your cat is Pussolini or Mother PurresaIn ancient Egypt cats were viewed as gods and in modern day they are no stranger to worship as the internet's favourite animal, but have you ever stopped to consider the true nature of the smug little creatures we so willingly welcome into our homes? Is your cat a dazzling Dolly Purrton in the making? Or a hateful Hannibal Lickter waiting to strike? Find out with this killer purrsonality quiz. With 16 personality profiles and tips on how to live in harmony with your cat, whatever their result, find out if your furry housemate dreams of world peace or world domination.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautiful companion set to the award-winning and internationally beloved phenomena, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, adults and children alike will love receiving, sending and displaying The Wild Cards''Breathtaking and magical. Jackie Morris has created something that you could spend all day looking at'' New Statesman''Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have made a thing of astonishing beauty'' ObserverDiscover and share the wonders of the wild world as seen in The Lost Words and The Lost Spells...This collection of 100 postcards features artwork and words from two beloved modern classics, in which Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane celebrate the creatures, trees and plants of nearby nature, from Acorn to Wren, by way of Curlew and Kingfisher, Silver Birch and Snow Hare, Goldfinch and Gorse.The front of each card bears one of Morris''s Greenaway Medal-winning paintings; on the reverse, y

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJohn Lewis-Stempel is a farmer and 'Britain's finest living nature writer' (The Times). His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers Woodston, The Running Hare and The Wood. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. In 2016 he was named Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He farms cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Traditionally.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe book, which is beautifully illustrated seeks to immerse you in the life of the hare and the beauty of nature. Jigfoot can teach us all a lot about the importance of enjoying simple pleasures and embracing the nature we share our world with.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the infamous Diddly Squat FarmTHE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud'' Daily Telegraph''Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches'' Time Out_________Welcome to Clarkson''s farm.It''s always had a nice ring to it. Jeremy just never thought that one day his actual job would be ''a farmer''.And, sadly, it doesn''t mean he''s any good at it.From buying the wrong tractor (Lamborghini, since you ask . . .) to formation combine harvesting, getting tied-up in knots of red tape to chasing viciously athletic cows, our hero soon learns that enthusiasm alone might not be enough.Jeremy may never succeed in becoming master of his land, but, as he''s discovering, the fun lies in the trying . . ._________''Trade ReviewBrilliant . . . laugh-out-loud * Daily Telegraph *Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches * Time Out *Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy the bestselling author of Storyland.Sheer cliffs, salt spray, explosive sea spume, thunderous clouds, icy waves, whales with mountains on their backs, sleet, bitter winds, bleak, impenetrable marshes, howling wolves, forests, the unceasing cries of birds and the death grip of subterranean vaults that have never seen the sun: these are wild landscapes of a world almost familiar.In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys - on foot and through medieval texts - from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the reader an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world. From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world - stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval literature: women, outcasts, animals.Illustrated with original wood engravings, evoking an atmospheric world of whales, wolves, caves, cuckoos and reeds, Wild: Tales From Early Medieval Britain will leave readers feeling 'westendream': delight in the wilderness.Trade ReviewA beautiful retelling of British myths and exquisitely illustrated too. -- James Holland on Storyland, Daily Express (Book of the Year)This gorgeous book should live on the bookshelves in every house that cares about "the idea of Britain, what is was and where it came from." -- The Times (On Storyland)Marries words and images to create a special echo of this country's rich past. * The Times *Jeffs is the narrator, providing a reading that is suffused with portent and otherworldliness. Listeners gain a series of folk songs, written and performed by Jeffs, each of which adds a thrilling new dimension to these ancient fables. * Guardian (Audiobook of the Week) *Across seven themed chapters the Storyland author presents an inspiring excavation of the British countryside through diverse medieval texts. * Waterstones (The Best History Books of 2022) *Jeffs teases out nuance, divining moral and metaphorical meaning from each story, and questions ways that this living history of Britain impacts upon our present-day understanding of landscape. The writing throughout is celebratory and evocative. * Art Quarterly *Jeffs has a gift for breathing new life into ancient stories through her lyrical writing, deep research and evocative woodcuts. She connects our mythic history to the landscape with delicacy and humour. Reading Wild feels like being led by the hand through a gnarled, old growth forest, along empty shoreflats, and along the edge of windswept cliffs - and shown how to experience them through medieval eyes. It's a jewel of a book. -- Natalie Lawrence - co-author of Planta Sapiens: Unmasking Plant IntelligenceImmersive . . . Her stories are arranged across seven chapters - Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe and Paradise. Jeffs, a medieval scholar with her own wild streak, introduces each in confident, forceful tones. She also sings six of her songs, accompanied by early musical instruments. Lucy Paterson, who has one of those warm, low,rich voices that can hold you mesmerised, tells the tales. * The Times (Audiobook of the Week) *An extraordinarily multidimensional work, moving seamlessly from creative retellings of the stories to explanations of the texts and where they came from, underpinned all the time by sound academic understanding. Those reading the print version can marvel at the extraordinary black-and-white wood cuttings that break up the chapters, while those enjoying the audiobook version can listen to music inspired by the same tales. * Countryfile Magazine (Best nature and wildlife books for 2023) *This beautiful book . . . takes the reader back into the medieval mind, exploring ancient myths and poems rooted deep in the British landscape. * Wiltshire Life *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautifully illustrated collection of feline folktales from around the world

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisCats Work Like This is for cat lovers who know that even after ten thousand years of living with cats, no one really has a clue what their cat is thinking. In this insider''s guide to the habits of these puzzling animals, the authors offer insights from two generations of watching their cats work. They share the sometimes hilarious and often astonishing observations on cats that have accumulated over ages, and offer some useful insights into how to understand your own cat. Though there are many famous felines, it is the day to day cat which provides the most enduring interest. Though each one''s behaviour and mannerisms are unique, we can find enough practices in common to guide you to becoming an expert in how cats work.Chapters include Habits, with an insight into how cats train you to have the right ones; and The Scientific Cat, with observations and empirical learning following the classic scientific method, as cats don''t listen well enough to be subjects in any other kind of experimentation.Learn how cats practice their values and explore what your cats know about you. Find out what cats do while you sleep, what a cat''s eyes can tell you and what there is to understand about political and & eco'' cats. With a focus on attention, emotion, cute affection, manipulation, cunning and cussedness, Cats Work Like This gives a rare insight into the workings of a cat''s elusive mind.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA magical new series from best-selling author and illustrator, Laura Ellen Anderson!Ten-year-old Ray Grey lives in the magical Weatherlands, high in the sky. Ray is surrounded by Weatherlings with astounding weather power at their fingertips . . . but she doesn''t have ANY magic!Then, after a trip to Earth, Ray's life changes forever. She is transformed from Ray Grey into RAINBOW GREY! With the help of her best friends (and exploding cloud cat, Nim) now all Ray has to do is master her powers AND save the world from a mysterious, powerful enemy . . .Trade Review"Laura Ellen Anderson must be one of the brightest rainbows in kidlit. Rainbow Grey is bursting with colour, kindness and heart – just like her creator. An utter joy from start to finish." Maz Evans “Sparkling new series with a rip-roaring, colour-infused tale of bravery, storm-filled action, kindness and warm-hearted friendships.” Lancashire Post “A lively story with a fully imagined alternative world, an entertaining collection of characters and a brave heroine.”Books for Keeps “A fabulously fun read for newly independent readers.”Miss Cleveland is Reading, school librarian and book blogger “Packed full of action and excitement from the first page all the way through to the last.” The Teacher Bookworm, teacher and book blogger “Rainbow Grey is funny and smart” Books for Topics “A true delight" Irish Sunday Independent “Ray is a glorious combination of confidence, determination and colour that children will admire” Bonkers About Books “The plot keeps readers reading right to the end, as we see main character Ray finding her inner power (as a Rainbow Weatherling), discovering her own identity and overcoming challenges” What I Read, teacher and book blogger “The perfect mix of adventure and peril, Laura has created the most sublime and wondrous world which she brings to life through her marvellous illustrations.” Book Lover Jo, school librarian and book blogger “Perfect for readers transitioning to longer-chapter books.”- Sunday Business Post

Read more less

Book SynopsisRocks and mountains have withstood aeons of life on our planet - gradually eroding, shifting, solidifying, and weathering. We might spend a little less time on earth, but humans are also weathering: evolving and changing as we're transformed by the shifting climates of our lives and experiences. So, what might these ancient natural forms have to teach us about resilience and change?In a stunning exploration of our own connection to these enduring forms, outdoor psychotherapist and geologist Ruth Allen takes us on a journey through deep time and ancient landscapes, showing how geology - which has formed the bedrock of her own adult life and approach to therapy - can offer us a new way of thinking about our own grief, change and boundaries. In a world shaken by physical, political, and medical disasters, Weathering argues for a deeper understanding of the ground beneath our feet to better serve ourselves and the world we live in.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThrough informative chapters ranging from the physiological and environmental to the butterfly''s inclusion in myth, legend, art and literature, The Butterfly Book is an ideal guide to its subject for all nature lovers, beautifully illustrated throughout with brand new photography and artwork.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisOur ancestors developed a uniquely nature-focused society, centred on esteemed poets, seers, monks, healers and wise women who were deeply connected to the land. They used this connection to the cycles of the natural world from which we are increasingly dissociated as an animating force in their lives.In this illuminating new book, Manchán Magan sets out on a journey, through bogs, across rivers and over mountains, to trace these ancestor's footsteps. He uncovers the ancient myths that have shaped our national identity and are embedded in the strata of land that have endured through millennia from ice ages through to famines and floods.Here, the River Shannon is a goddess, and trees and their life-sustaining root systems are hallowed. See the world in a new light in this magical exploration into the life-sustaining wisdom of what lies beneath us.We could do with a lot more characters like [Manchán] dotted about this world.' Irish IndependentManchán creates a gorgeous tapestry that lingers in the mind's eye.' Kerri Ní DochartaighManchán['s] got some theories about the roots of the Irish language that are going to blow your head off an incredible storyteller.'' Blindboy BoatclubManchán's passion for Ireland's ecological and poetic heritage is more urgently relevant than ever.' Darach Ó Séaghdha

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Times Science Book of the Year.A Sunday Times Bestseller.66 million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today, Dr. Steve Brusatte, one of the leading scientists of a new generation of dinosaur hunters, armed with cutting edge technology, is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs ruled the earth for 150 million years.The world of the dinosaurs has fascinated on book and screen for decades – from early science fiction classics like The Lost World, to Godzilla terrorizing the streets of Tokyo, and the monsters of Jurassic Park. But what if we got it wrong? In The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, top dinosaur expert Brusatte, tells the real story of how dinosaurs rose to dominate the planet. Using the fossil clues that have been gathered using state of the art technology, Brusatte follows these magnificent creatures from their beginnings in the Early Triassic period, through the Jurassic period to their final days in the Cretaceous and the legacy that they left behind.Along the way, Brusatte introduces us to modern day dinosaur hunters and gives an insight into what it’s like to be a paleontologist. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is full of thrilling accounts of some of his personal discoveries, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs, monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex, and feathered raptor dinosaurs preserved in lava from China.At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 200,000 years and we are already talking about planetary extinction, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a timely reminder of what humans can learn from the magnificent creatures who ruled the earth before us.'Thrilling . . . the best book on the subject written for the general reader since the 1980s.' - The Sunday TimesTrade ReviewThrilling . . . the best book on the subject written for the general reader since the 1980s. -- Tom Holland * The Sunday Times *A gripping read in the best traditions of popular science -- Andrew Anthony * The Observer *The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a lovely book. Brusatte has a wonderful knack for conjuring vivid worlds out of a few shards of petrified bone. He is excellent company as a narrator, steering a course between pedantry and patronising oversimplification with flair, and unafraid to guide the reader through some fairly complicated patches of science when he feels it is worth it. -- Oliver Moody * The Times *A vibrant view of how dinosaurs originated and what happened to our Mesozoic favourites. Brusatte is as adept a scientific storyteller as any reader could ask for. * The Spectator *A masterpiece of science writing * The Washington Post *An up-to-the-minute account of the long history and remarkable biology of the extraordinary animals that capture the imagination of every child. The dinosaurs are much more varied than the popular picture of lumbering giants and matching meat eaters. Steve Brusatte expertly leads the reader through the latest discoveries to unravel their great range of lifestyles in a vanished world. He explores the research that led to the realisation that dinosaurs Iive on - as birds. The book is an appropriate antidote to the hubris that puts our human species at the centre of the living world. -- Professor Richard ForteySteve Brusatte is doing some of the most exciting research on dinosaurs today, and he brings that excitement to The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. Whether he’s recounting remarkable fossil discoveries or explaining millions of years of evolutionary change, Brusatte shows just how much our understanding of dinosaurs has changed in just the past decade. -- Carl Zimmer, author of Evolution: Making Sense of LifeThe Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a work of solid modern science, updating the fallacies and fancies of antiquated paleontology, revealing the quantum leaps in understanding of this modern science. But it is more than that. It is a personal quest full of enthusiasm and joy, getting beneath the dust to reveal the scales and the feathers of dinosaurs. -- Steve Backshall, Naturalist and BBC TV PresenterSteve Brusatte's The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a triumph. Written by one of our young leaders of the field, he brings new discoveries, a taste for a good yarn, and his infectious enthusiasm to some of the epic tales of paleontology. It is hard to read Brusatte and not love lost worlds. -- Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner FishAs a scientist on the front lines of discovery, Brusatte delivers a cutting-edge account of Earth's most awe-inspiring age, and does so with great skill, humor and wonder. In his thrilling account of the revolutions and innovations that brought dinosaurs to rule the world for a near eternity, Brusatte captures both the majesty of the creatures he studies, as well as the breathtaking evolutionary ride that transformed these once scrawny also-rans into the myth-making tyrants of legend. It's the most epic chapter of earth history, and here it's told vividly by one of the world's top paleontologists. -- Peter Brannen, author of The Ends of the WorldWith his new book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs esteemed palaeontologist and author Steve Brusatte shows that the fun, fascinating and fact-filled story of the dinosaurs is still very much alive after 66 million years. Simply, a must read. -- Ben Garrod, BBC TV presenterFantastic . . . Superbly illustrated with photos and art, this is popular-science writing at its best. -- Nancy BentThis is scientific storytelling at its most visceral, striding with the beasts through their Triassic dawn, Jurassic dominance, and abrupt demise in the Cretaceous. * Nature *The ultimate dinosaur biography * Scientific American *[Brusatte's] captivating text explores the excitement associated with searching for and discovering new dinosaur species, provides clues to many long-standing questions associated with dinosaurs. . . a mix of memoir, chronicling Brusatte’s personal odyssey from a child smitten by dinosaurs to a member of a vibrant scholarly community, and first-rate science writing for the general public. * Publishers Weekly *A must-have for fans of ancient reptiles and their lost world. * Kirkus Reviews *He is a working scientist in the early stages of his career, so his tales have a freshness and an engaging immediacy that you don’t get from the pens of scientists long past their productive years and with the leisure to write. Like Alexander Hamilton, he really does write as though he’s running out of time, so one can excuse him if his style bubbles over into breathlessness. And best of all, he gives an extensive bibliography of semi-popular and scholarly sources, many of them so new that the ink is hardly dry. This is science at first hand, meant for grown-ups. -- Henry Geee * The Literary Review *Kind in tone and generous in description...[this] memoirlike writing is silly and lovable, making for one big adventure. * The Paris Review *Full of adventures and humour. Abundant photographs and illustrations bring these stories to life * Science *Excellent...a superb combination of good argument and good writing. -- Matt RidleyBrusatte skillfully brings dead dino bones to life as he shares - no, gushes about - his personal journey as a young fossil hunter andthe people he’s met along the way… The beauty of this book lies in the details, too, and in the stories of the scientists who dig them up. * New York Times Book Review *Brusatte is one of the stars of modern paleontology...he has discovered 10 new dinosaur species. He has also led groundbreaking scientific studies that have rewritten the history of these magnificent creatures which, thanks to Hollywood and countless children stories, haunt our imaginations today like never before…Brusatte tells the epic tale of the dinosaurs’ rise to dominance and extinction, taking us on a thrilling journey back in time. * National Geographic *Rawwrghhh! Millions of years ago dino roars echoed across the earth. This vivid book takes us back. Meet the argentinosaurus, the largest land animal to have lived, and the allosaurus, a nasty predator with horns over its eyes. Steve Brusatte brings dinosaurs alive for a new generation. * The Times, Saturday Review, The best nonfiction to read on holiday this summer *Brusatte’s up-to-date survey of the current state of palaeontological knowledge is the best book on dinosaurs written for the general reader since the 1980s. * The Times, The 100 best books to read this summer *Table of ContentsSection - i: Prologue: The Golden Age of Discovery Chapter - 1: The Dawn of the Dinosaurs Chapter - 2: Dinosaurs Rise Up Chapter - 3: Dinosaurs Become Dominant Chapter - 4: Dinosaurs and Drifting Continents Chapter - 5: The Tyrant Dinosaurs Chapter - 6: The King of the Dinosaurs Chapter - 7: Dinosaurs at the Top of Their Game Chapter - 8: Dinosaurs Take Flight Chapter - 9: Dinosaurs Die Out Section - ii: Epilogue: After the Dinosaurs Acknowledgements - iii: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes on Sources Index - v: Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA NEW SCIENTIST BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK FOR 2025''A book that shows how we might evolve to solve the problems we have caused our planet. Brilliantly written, surprising, inspiring and, ultimately, hopeful'' ISABELLA TREEFor nearly four billion years, life on Earth has found new ways to adapt, reproduce and thrive, taking on new forms to meet the environment of the moment. Human impact on the planet, and the potentially devastating threat of climate change, have stressed that adaptability as never before. Yet life still finds a way. Animals, plants and insects rise to the challenge and are still adapting, reproducing and thriving, even in our rapidly transforming environment. In their example we may just find ways that we too can adapt, ways to stop the destruction we''re causing to the planet.In Nature''s Genius David Farrier takes us on a profound journey into this ever-changing natural world. What we discover could transform us. The ways animals adjust to the urban landscape can help us design sustainable cities. Examining other intelligences can help us remake our economies. Learning from bacterial evolution may help solve our waste problem. Synthetic biology could rescue animals from the brink of extinction. Thinking in timescales of the natural world could help us choose a better future. Life on Earth is changing; the question is, can we change with it? Can we remake the world to be fit for all life to thrive once more?

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A dazzling, funny and elegantly angry demolition of our preconceptions about female behaviour and sex in the animal kingdom ... Bitch is a blast. I read it, my jaw sagging in astonishment, jotting down favourite parts to send to friends and reading out snippets gleefully...' Observer'A book that is tearing down the stereotypes and the biases. Absolutely fascinating.' BBC R4 Woman's Hour'From the heir to Attenborough. 5*' - Telegraph'Glorious ... A bold and gripping takedown of the sexist mythology baked into biology ... Full of marvellous surprises. Guardian'Colourful, committed and deeply informed.' Sunday Times'Gloriously original' Daily MirrorA 'sparkling attack on scientific sexism' Nature'Humorous, absorbing, sometimes shocking (for a variety of reasons), and bound to be a conversation starter' BBC Wildlife'Brilliant ... Cooke is a superb science writer' TLS'Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species.' New Statesman'Introduces us to a marvelous zoetrope of animals.' The Atlantic'[An] effervescent exposé ... [A] playful, enlightening tour of the vanguard of evolutionary biology.' Scientific American Selected for the Telegraph's 'best books for summer 2022' and as one of the Guardian's '50 hottest new books for a great escape'._______________________________________________________________What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again.In the last few decades a revolution has been brewing in zoology and evolutionary biology. Lucy Cooke introduces us to a riotous cast of animals, and the scientists studying them, that are redefining the female of the species.Meet the female lemurs of Madagascar, our ancient primate cousins that dominate the males of their species physically and politically.Or female albatross couples, hooking up together to raise their chicks in Hawaii.Or the meerkat mothers of the Kalahari Desert - the most murderous mammals on the planet.The bitches in BITCH overturn outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour. Lucy Cooke's brilliant new book will change how you think - about sex, sexual identity and sexuality in animals and also the very forces that shape evolution.__________Praise for Lucy's previous book THE UNEXPECTED TRUTH ABOUT ANIMALS'Endlessly fascinating' - Bill Bryson'I cannot remember when I enjoyed a non-fiction book so much' - Daily Express'A joy from beginning to end' - Guardian'Best science pick: deeply researched, sassily written' - NatureTrade ReviewLucy Cooke's Bitch shows just how far we have come in seeing nature's females for what they actually are.' -- Simon Ing * Telegraph *Surprising sex lives of the animal kingdom: From bondage-loving spiders to 'Scrooge-like' lobsters who save their sperm for a female who's 'worth it', BITCH lifts the lid on kinky creatures -- Claire Toureille * Daily Mail *Best books of 2022 so far: Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species. * New Statesman *Mr Darwin, your time is up...This is the evolutionary reboot us bitches have been waiting for. -- Sue PerkinsBrilliant ... Cooke is a superb science writer -- Carol Tavris * TLS *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMan’s best friend, domesticated since prehistoric times, a travelling companion for explorers and artists, thinkers and walkers, equally happy curled up by the fire and bounding through the great outdoors—dogs matter to us because we love them. But is that all there is to the canine’s good-natured voracity and affectionate dependency? Mark Alizart dispenses with the well-worn clichés concerning dogs and their masters, seeing them not as submissive pets but rather as unexpected life coaches, ready to teach us the elusive recipes for contentment and joy. Dogs have faced their fate in life with a certain detachment that is not easy to understand. Unlike other animals in a similar situation, they have not become hardened, nor have they let themselves die a little inside. On the contrary, they seem to have softened. This book is devoted to understanding this miracle, the miracle of the joy of dogs – to understanding it and, if at all possible, to learning how it’s done. Weaving elegantly and eruditely between historical myth and pop-culture anecdote, between the peculiar views of philosophers and the even more bizarre findings of science, Alizart offers us a surprising new portrait of the dog as thinker—a thinker who may perhaps know the true secret of our humanity.Trade Review“Mark Alizart returns to the history of civilizations to restore to the dog its essential role. Far from being a mere companion of man, might the dog ultimately be his master?” France Culture “This plea to restore to the dog ‘its ancient rights’ echoes intelligently the present-day sensibility for the animal cause.” L’Express “A clever treatise of canine philosophy.” Le Monde"Delightful."The Spectator"Seminal . . . [Alizart] makes a compelling case on why dogs matter and articulates the important lessons they can impart to us." The Bark “charming . . . a book that should be read quickly and taken lightly as a dog takes life.”Arkansas Democrat Gazette Table of ContentsAcknowledgements The Joy of Dogs The Shame of the Animal Kingdom Canis Major Twixt Dog and Wolf Sola Fido The Dog Vinci Code Darwin’s Dogs Companion Species Manifesto Ecce Canis Dog Years Portrait of the philosopher as a dog Oedipus Rex Sons of a bitch We Are All Inuits A Tergo More Ferarum The Mark of Cain The Big Bark Gabriel Epilogue

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''The best portrait of rural life in England'' Roger Deakin''Exquisite'' John Updike''The finest contemporary writer on the English countryside'' ObserverRonald Blythe''s perceptive and vivid evocation of the rural Suffolk he had known since childhood was acclaimed as an instant classic when it was published in 1969. It reverberates with the voices of the village inhabitants, from the reminiscences of survivors of the Great War evoking days gone by, to the concerns of a younger generation of farm-workers and the fascinating and personal recollections of, among others, the local schoolteacher, doctor, blacksmith, saddler, district nurse and magistrate. Providing insights into the land, education, welfare, class, religion and death, Akenfield forms a unique document of a way of life that has, in many ways, disappeared.Trade ReviewA hundred years from now, anyone wanting to know how things were on the land will turn more profitably to Akenfield than to a sheaf of anaemically professional social surveys. * the Guardian *Blythe lovingly opens the curtains of legend and landscape, revealing the inner, almost clandestine, spirit of the village behind. His book consists of direct-speech monologues, delivered by 49 Suffolk residents, and interpretatively linked by the author. The effect is one of astonishing immediacy: it is as if those country people have looked up for a moment from their plow, lawnmower or kitchen sink, and are talking directly (and disturbingly frankly) to the reader -- Jan Morris * The New York Times *Exquisite -- John Updike

Read more less

Book SynopsisBirds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores the newly discovered brilliance of birds and how it came about. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research - the distant laboratories of Barbados and New Caledonia, the great tit communities of the United Kingdom and the bowerbird habitats of Australia, the ravaged mid-Atlantic coast after Hurricane Sandy and the warming mountains of central Virginia and the western states - Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itTrade ReviewThis book is a delight . . . Like a brainy corvid, we can learn much from this book . . . Ackerman has a florid turn of phrase, and she revels in it . . . There is another world of intelligence out there, and this is a great introduction to it. * The Guardian *If you're a bird lover, this enchanting book is a must. If you're not, Ackerman's enthusiasm will make you an instant convert. * Daily Mail *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2017, Sophie Pierce’s life changed forever when her twenty-year-old son Felix died suddenly and unexpectedly. Thrown into an unimaginable new reality, she had to find a way to survive. By writing letters to Felix – composed during walks and swims taken close to his burial place by the River Dart – Sophie gradually learned how to live in the landscape of sudden loss, navigating the weather and tides of grief.The Green Hill collects these letters alongside Sophie’s account of the years following Felix’s death, into which she weaves poignant memories of his life. What results is a deeply moving, beautifully captured record of how – amid the rivers and rocks of Dartmoor, and in the sea off the South Devon coast – Sophie was able to hold on to and nurture her bond with Felix, both in her mind and through a physical engagement with the landscape: actively mourning, rather than grieving.This book is a celebration of the natural world and the role it plays in our lives and relationships, as well as an examination of how beauty, a sense of place and the passing seasons can help us contend with our own mortality. Above all, The Green Hill is one woman’s story of navigating through trauma and loss, and towards a fragile, complicated kind of joy.'In The Green Hill, Sophie Pierce writes about the sudden death of her son Felix with an aching and gentle honesty. Struggling to come to terms with the loss not only of the young man he was, but everything that he would eventually become, she finds herself overwhelmed not only by grief, but also by love. Her writing is illuminated by a remarkable attention to the beauty and consolation of the natural world, and by the wisdom and tenderness which has been so painfully acquired. This is a book that will be a great comfort to those who need it' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent and Melmoth'Unforgettable, necessary. This beautiful book is a map, compass and ration of courage for anyone arrived in the landscape of sudden loss. Full of love and learning' Tanya Shadrick'The Green Hill is an extraordinary book… I thought of the fairy tale in which a captured princess must weave clothes from stinging nettles: Sophie Pierce has wrought something beautiful and useful from the darkest pain' Cressida Connolly, novelist and criticTrade Review 'Tough but cathartic reading, particularly for those who’ve lost family members too early. The results are both brutal and beautiful' Kirkus Review 'Sophie Pierce takes us to a place that none of us wants to visit. But there we discover extraordinary riches - riches that will transform us. This is a book about what it means to be a human, and that, we find, is a high, deep, demanding calling, of terrible beauty' Charles Foster, *New York Times bestselling author of Being a Beast

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis'An ode to the ocean, and the generations of women drawn to the waves or left waiting on the shore' Guardian In Salt On Your Tongue, Charlotte Runcie explores what the sea means to us, and particularly what it has meant to women through the ages. In mesmerising prose, she explores how the sea has inspired, fascinated and terrified us, and how she herself fell in love with the deep blue.This book is a walk on the beach with Turner, with Shakespeare, with the Romantic Poets and shanty-singers. It's an ode to our oceans - to the sailors who brave their treacherous waters, to the women who lost their loved ones to the waves, to the creatures that dwell in their depths, to beachcombers, swimmers, seabirds and mermaids. Navigating through ancient Greek myths, poetry, shipwrecks and Scottish folktales, Salt On Your Tongue is about how the wild untameable waves can help us understand what it means to be human.Trade ReviewThis motherhood memoir-cum-nature journal about the connection between women and the sea is bracing and poetic . . . Throughout, her prose is defined by cool confidence and unshowy clarity, allowing its more poetic observations, of which there are plenty, to glimmer like glass pebbles . . . Just like her favourite kind of blustery beach, it's strewn with pocketable treasures * * Observer * *Women and water are the subjects of Charlotte Runcie's seductive history . . . Intoxicating . . . Runcie is a fine guiding star: wise, curious, sensitive to language and landscape . . . At its best her writing hauntingly captures the whispered wave and wash of the sea * * The Times * *An ode to the ocean, and the generations of women drawn to the waves or left waiting on the shore . . . A wide, eclectic cast of characters wash in and out on the tide of her poetic prose * * Guardian * *A seductive, estuarine merging of personal memoir and scholarly reportage . . . Runcie has a beachcomber's mind and a poet's turn of phrase * * Daily Telegraph * *A very beautiful book about myth and motherhood - a memoir that intertwines effortlessly and poetically with tales of the sea. Salt On Your Tongue has a rare magic to it -- SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, Booker-longlisted author of THE WATER CURERuncie has combined an exploration of Scotland's seascape with the story of her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter . . . Breathless, intimate . . . Very much in the vein of bestsellers The Outrun by Amy Liptrot and H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald * * Mail on Sunday * *A wise and wonderful book, charting intensely personal moments against the constant yet ever-changing sea. A story of birth, loss, memory and motherhood, spliced with vivid observations of the natural world and collected myth, lore and legend, Charlotte Runcie's voice is by turns practical and poetic, objective and beguiling. An utterly immersive read -- JESS KIDD, author of HIMSELF and THE HOARDERAn intensely personal paean to the sea. Runcie interweaves her experience of an unplanned first pregnancy with her attraction to the seashore and the stories of women who traditionally waited for ships to come home -- Ruth Scurr * * Spectator, Books of the Year * *A lyrical exploration of the complex relationship between women, the sea and their own reproductive biology . . . Her description of childbirth - in all its visceral, growling, bloody intensity - is astonishingly powerful . . . . Beguiling * * Herald * *An expectant mother's diary is also a treasure trove of lore and legend and a moving tribute to the grandmother who inspired a lifelong love of beachcombing . . . A lyrical, impassioned and curious book . . . Elegantly done -- Stuart Kelly * * Scotland on Sunday * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisColin Tudge''s The Secret Life of Trees: How they Live and Why they Matter explores the hidden role of trees in our everyday lives - and how our future survival depends on them. What is a tree? As this celebration of the trees shows, they are our countryside; our ancestors descended from them; they gave us air to breathe. Yet while the stories of trees are as plentiful as leaves in a forest, they are rarely told. Here, Colin Tudge travels from his own back garden round the world to explore the beauty, variety and ingenuity of trees everywhere: from how they live so long to how they talk to each other and why they came to exist in the first place. Lyrical and evocative, this book will make everyone fall in love with the trees around them. ''A love-letter to trees''  Financial Times ''One of those books you want everyone to have already read''  Sunday Telegraph ''Wonderful, invaluable and timely. Tudge is as illuminating a guide as one could wish for''  Daily Mail ''Everyone interested in the natural world will enjoy The Secret Life of Trees. I found myself reading out whole chunks to friends''  The Times Books of the Year Colin Tudge started his first tree nursery in his garden aged 11, marking his life-long interest in trees. Always interested in plants and animals, he studied zoology at Cambridge and then began writing about science, first as features editor at the New Scientist and then as a documentary maker for the BBC. Now a full-time writer, he is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and visiting Research Fellow at the Centre of Philosophy at the London School of Economics. His books include The Variety of Life and So Shall We Reap.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Short of doing it yourself, the best way of escaping into nature is to read a book like A Walk in the Woods.' New York TimesIn the company of his friend Stephen Katz (last seen in the bestselling Neither Here nor There), Bill Bryson set off to hike the Appalachian Trail, the longest continuous footpath in the world. Ahead lay almost 2,200 miles of remote mountain wilderness filled with bears, moose, bobcats, rattlesnakes, poisonous plants, disease-bearing tics, the occasional chuckling murderer and - perhaps most alarming of all - people whose favourite pastime is discussing the relative merits of the external-frame backpack. Facing savage weather, merciless insects, unreliable maps and a fickle companion whose profoundest wish was to go to a motel and watch The X-Files, Bryson gamely struggled through the wilderness to achieve a lifetime's ambition - not to die outdoors.A Walk in the Woods is now a major feature film starring Robert Redford, Emma Thompson and Nick Offerman.Trade ReviewChoke-on-your-coffee funny * Washington Post *This is a seriously funny book -- Sue Townsend * The Sunday Times *Short of doing it yourself, the best way of escaping into nature is to read a book like A Walk in the Woods... Mr Bryson has met this challenge with zest and considerable humor... a funny book, full of dry humor... the reader is rarely anything but exhilarated * The New York Times *Entertaining and often illuminating -- Paul Johnson * Sunday Telegraph *Irreverent, wildly funny, crowded with anecdotes and observation * Ideal Home *

Read more less

Book SynopsisReissue of J. A. Baker's extraordinary classic of British nature writing, with an exclusive new afterword by Robert Macfarlane.J. A. Baker's extraordinary classic of British nature writing was first published in 1967. Greeted with acclaim, it went on to win the Duff Cooper Prize, the pre-eminent literary prize of the time. Luminaries such as Ted Hughes, Barry Lopez and Andrew Motion have cited it as one of the most important books in twentieth-century nature writing.Despite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J. A. Baker spent long winters looking and writing about the visitors from the uplands peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons and waders that share the desolate landscape with them.This new edition of the timeless classic, published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first publication, features an afterword by one of the book's greatesTrade Review‘A masterpiece of natural history writing. I would recommend to anybody who loves the English language, let alone birds of prey’ Monty Don, Financial Times ‘Passionately fierce but also wonderfully tender’ Andrew Motion ‘…an inspiring example to future writers, and a gift to lovers of nature.’ The Times Literary Supplement ‘… a literary masterpiece, one of the 20th century’s outstanding examples of nature writing.’ Independent ‘The Peregrine should be known as one of the finest works on nature ever written' BBC Wildlife ‘… some of the most marvellous prose of the twentieth century.’ Literary Review ‘A tour de force … what can I do except praise writing which involves all the senses? This book goes altogether outside the bird-book into literature.’ The Sunday Times ‘A rapt and remarkable book … his phrases have a magnesium-flare intensity.’ Observer ‘… what is certain is that The Peregrine is the most precise and poetic account of a bird – possibly of any non-human creature – ever written in English prose.’ Daily Telegraph ‘J. A. Baker's poetic prose has a hard intensity and an exquisite lyric grace that takes it far beyond the stereotypical stuff of larks ascending and questing voles. Cruelly beautiful and brutally exact, it sees the countryside anew to give us nature in the wild and in the raw.’ The Scotsman ‘Including original diaries from which The Peregrine was written and its companion volume, The Hill of Summer, this is a beautiful compendium of lyrical nature writing at its absolute best […]. For those with an interest in the Peregrine Falcon or classic natural history writing. ‘ Guardian

Read more less

Book SynopsisJohn Lewis-Stempel is a farmer and 'Britain's finest living nature writer' (The Times). His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers Woodston, The Running Hare and The Wood. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. In 2016 he was named Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He farms cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Traditionally.

Read more less