Natural History Books
HarperCollins Ingrained
£15.99
HarperCollins Of Time And Turtles
Book Synopsis
£14.39
HarperCollins Publishers The Place of Tides
£21.74
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot Calendar 2026
Book Synopsis
£12.51
McGraw-Hill Education - Europe Biological Anthropology
Book SynopsisBiological Anthropology is a concise introduction to the basic themes, theories, methods and facts of bioanthropology. The scientific method provides a framework that brings accessibility and context to the material. This seventh edition presents the most recent findings and interpretations of topics in anthropology including Australopithecus sediba, the Denisovians, and epigenetics.Table of ContentsPrefaceTo the Reader1 Biological AnthropologyIn the Field: Doing Biological AnthropologyAmong the HutteritesA Hawaiian in ConnecticutWhat Is Biological Anthropology?Defining AnthropologyThe Specialties of BioanthropologyBioanthropology and ScienceThe Scientific MethodSome Common Misconceptions about ScienceScience Is Conducted in a Cultural ContextContemporary Reflections: Is Evolution a Fact, a Theory, or Just a Hypothesis?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings2 The Evolution of Evolution"On the Shoulders of Giants": Explaining the Changing EarthThe Biblical ContextThe Framework of "Natural Philosophy""Common Sense at Its Best": Explaining Biological ChangeDarwin's PredecessorsCharles DarwinThe Modern Theory of EvolutionContemporary Reflections: Has Science Dehumanized Society?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings3 Evolutionary GeneticsHow Genes WorkAn Overview of the Human GenomeFrom Genes to TraitsHow Inheritance WorksContemporary Reflections: What is Genetic Cloning?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings4 The Processes of EvolutionSpecies: The Units of EvolutionThe Four Processes of EvolutionMutations: Necessary ErrorsNatural Selection: The Prime Mover of EvolutionGene Flow: Mixing Populations' GenesGenetic Drift: Random EvolutionSickle Cell Anemia: Evolutionary Processes in ActionGenetics and SymptomsContemporary Reflections: Are Humans Still Evolving?The Adaptive ExplanationOther RelationshipsSummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings5 The Origin of Species and the Shape of EvolutionNew SpeciesReproductive Isolating MechanismsProcesses of SpeciationThe Evolution of Life's DiversityOur Family TreeAdaptive RadiationThe Grand Pattern of EvolutionThe Pattern of SpeciationSpecies SelectionCatastrophic Mass ExtinctionsContemporary Reflections: Are There Alternatives to Evolution?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings6 A Brief Evolutionary TimetableFrom the Beginning: A Quick HistoryDrifting Continents and Mass Extinctions: The Pace of ChangeContemporary Reflections: Are Mass Extinctions a Thing of the Past?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings7 The PrimatesNaming the AnimalsWhat Is a Primate?The SensesMovementReproductionIntelligenceBehavior PatternsThe Primate Adaptive StrategyA Survey of the Living PrimatesProsimiansAnthropoidsThe Human PrimateThe SensesMovementReproductionContemporary Reflections: What Is the Status of Our Closest Relatives?IntelligenceBehavior PatternsAre We Hominids or Hominins?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings8 Primate Behavior and Human EvolutionBehavioral EvolutionHow Do Complex Behaviors Evolve?How Do We Study Behavior?Primate BehaviorBaboonsChimpanzeesBonobosCulture and Social CognitionContemporary Reflections: Are Some Human Behaviors Genetic?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings9 Studying the Human PastBones: The Primate SkeletonOld Bones: Locating, Recovering, and Dating FossilsFinding FossilsRecovering FossilsDating FossilsHow Fossils Get to Be FossilsGenes: New Windows to the PastThe "Molecular Clock"The Genetic Differences between Chimps and Humans Contemporary Reflections: Who Owns Old Bones?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings10 Evolution of the Early HominidsThe Origin and Evolution of the PrimatesBipedalismThe Benefits of BipedalismThe Evolution of BipedalismThe Early HominidsAustralopithecusParanthropusThe Search for the First HominidsArdipithecusKenyanthropusOrrorinSahelanthropusPutting It All TogetherConnecting the DotsThe Ecological ContextContemporary Reflections: Is There a "Missing Link"?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings11 The Evolution of Genus HomoThe Nature of Genus HomoThe First Members of Genus HomoThe First Stone ToolsThe FossilsA New Adaptive ModeTo New LandsThe First FossilsMigration and the Ice AgesThe Life of Homo erectusBig Brains, Archaic SkullsHomo antecessorHomo heidelbergensisThe NeandertalsPhysical FeaturesCultureModern HumansAnatomyDatesCultureContemporary Reflections: Who Are the "Hobbits" from Indonesia?More Neandertals and Yet Another Human Group?The Debate Over Modern Human OriginsThe ModelsThe EvidenceIs This Debate Important?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings12 Evolution and Adaptation in Human PopulationsPopulation AdaptationsSpecies AdaptationsVariation in AdaptationsAre All Variations Adaptively Important?Disease and Human PopulationsDiseases are "Natural"Disease and Hominid EvolutionDisease and Human HistoryEmerging DiseasesContemporary Reflections: Are There Jewish Diseases? Are There Black Pharmaceuticals?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings13 Human Biological DiversitySex and GenderWhy Are There No Biological Races Within the Human Species?Race as a Biological ConceptHuman Phenotypic VariationGenetic VariationEvolutionary TheoryWhat, Then, Are Human Races?Anthropology and the History of Race StudiesRace, Bioanthropology, and Social IssuesRace and IntelligenceRace and Athletic AbilityContemporary Reflections: Are Genetic Ancestry Tests Worth the Money?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested Readings14 Biological Anthropology and Today's WorldForensic Anthropology: Reading the BonesLessons from the PastBioanthropology and Global IssuesContemporary Reflections: What Can One Do with a Degree in Bioanthropology?SummaryQuestions for Further ThoughtKey TermsSuggested ReadingsAppendix I: Protein Synthesis and the Genetic CodeAppendix II: Genes in PopulationsGlossary of Human and Nonhuman PrimatesGlossary of TermsReferencesCreditsIndex
£164.43
Ebury Publishing The Farmers Dog
Book Synopsis''It can be said at once that this book should be on the shelf of every farmer and shepherd who owns a dog or who is contemplating the purchase of one. Mr Holmes really gets behind the mind of the dog and what makes it tick. That is why his advice is so sound.'' - Farmer and Stockbreeder''John Holmes has picked out the essentials and backed them up with clear reasons with an enviable skill... No better book could be recommended to a farmer, old or young, who wishes to train working dogs for use with stock.'' - Journal of Farmers'' Club''Though The Farmer''s Dog is essentially intended for the bookshelves of the farmer, or working-dog owner, there is much to interest all lovers of dogs in its pages ... extremely well illustrated.'' - Dog World ''He has an understanding of dogs which has hardly been surpassed in the written word and if you are at heart a dog-lover you will enjoy and profit from every chapter.'' - Farming News
£11.69
Ebury Publishing Perfect Manners
Book SynopsisKelly Marks, who gets spectacular results in her exhibitions with the most fiery and recalcitrant of horses, says the secret is to talk to horses in their own language, establishing a relationship of trust and respect, using considerate and consistent techniques. You will find it helpful to formulate your own ''code of conduct'' for your horse and while you''re at it, for yourself as well, making consideration a way of life. Perfect Manners starts with the philosophy and concepts behind Kelly Marks'' techniques and moves on to foundation exercises and groundwork training. There are also sections on Join Up and Body Language, Training Halters, Biting, Spooking and Shying and the ''Lovely Head Rub''. A must-read for horse owners everywhere.Trade ReviewI could not recommend a better teacher of my methods anywhere in the world than Kelly Marks. -- Monty RobertsKelly [has] experience, enthusiasm and humour, alongside her respect and affection for the animals...the essential guide for any horse owner. * Countryside La Vie *
£21.25
Ebury Publishing The Forager Handbook
Book SynopsisMiles Irving has been seeking out and selling foraged produce for over 10 years. Among the top British restauranteurs who sell the fruit, vegetables and herbs Miles delivers to their doors are Jamie Oliver, Richard Corrigan, Mark Hix, Sam and Sam Clark. Miles lives near Canterbury and has his own company, Forager.Trade ReviewNature lovers and foodies alike will be overjoyed by this. Combining recipes and folklore, it's a great book for our time. * The Independent On Sunday *The definitive guide to foraging in the UK. * Wall Street Journal *A unique and authentic guide, assiduously researched, packed with information and enlivened with anecdotes. * Country Kitchen *The most up-to-date book on wild plants of Britain. Irving has produced a book that rivals Mabey’s Food For Free and personally I feel it surpasses it... I would rate The Forager Handbook as one of the best [of its kind] in publication. * eatweeds.co.uk *
£31.50
Ebury Publishing A House in the High Hills Dreams and Disasters of
Book Synopsis''I was warned by all those who knew me that to take on a project like this was madness.''At the peak of her fast-paced career, presenter and interviewer Selina Scott bought a house in the Tramuntana hills of Mallorca. It was a dilapidated old farmhouse without even mains electricity or water, but she had fallen in love with the beauty and peace of the surroundings, and the promise of an escape from her high-pressured job and unwelcome tabloid attention.Selina begins to settle into Mediterranean life and spends time renovating the house. However, she soon realises that making the old house her home is going to be more difficult than she thought. From the unwelcome wildlife that insists on sharing her house, to dubious building work, locals both friendly and hostile, and a forest fire that threatens the whole valley, Selina''s new life is full of unexpected challenges. In this funny, elegantly written account of her Spanish years Selina tells us about tTrade ReviewShe records with a loving and observant eye * Telegraph *Charming * Sunday Express *A terrific read, beautifully written * Richard Madeley *
£13.49
Ebury Publishing One Dog at a Time
Book Synopsis''Thick with rolls of gleaming new wire, the obstacle was designed to prevent a suicide bomber driving into the compound''s thick mud walls. Today, however, it had only succeeded in stopping a terrified-looking small white dog. I knew that the Taliban could be hiding in any one of these buildings, just waiting for one of us. But I knew I couldn''t just walk away.''In a remote outpost of Now Zad, in Helmand province, Pen Farthing''s tour of duty will change his life forever, but for entirely unexpected reasons ...Appalled by the horrors of a local dog fight, he intervenes to free the victims. One of these dogs finds his way into the Marine compound - and into Pen''s heart. Soon other strays are being drawn to the sanctuary provided by Pen''s makeshift pound, including one young mum who crawls under the compound fence carrying her newborn pups to safety. But as his time in Helmand draws to an end, Pen cannot leave the dogs of Now Zad to their own fates. He begins hatching plans to help them escape to a better life.Trade ReviewPen Farthing is absolutely wonderful, really truly my kind of heroInspirational ... his compassion and dedication are a fine example to us all * Daily Mail *An inspiring tale. Heartwarming stuff * News of the World *An exciting, funny and moving book ... Nowzad, AK, Jena, Tali and their pups could melt a stone's heart * Guardian *An emotional rollercoaster that will keep you turning the pages and reaching for the Kleenex - don't miss it -10/10 * Your Dog *
£9.49
Ebury Publishing A Cat Called Norton
Book SynopsisPeter was a confirmed loner and cat hater, until he was given a small, grey (and impeccably handsome) kitten with folded ears by his then girlfriend. The girlfriend went but Norton stayed - in fact, he and Peter became inseparable. Trotting along beside him down the street, having his own chair in restaurants or sitting on Peter''s lap on plane journeys, Norton made his presence felt and Peter was a loner no more. But, after learning how to love his cat, would Peter now learn how to love another human too?Trade ReviewPeter Gethers' trio of books about the globe-trotting Norton are witty and warm. We not only learn of Norton's sweet personality but also about the author's feelings about what really matters when it comes to love and cats -- Vicki Myron, author of DEWEYA charming and heartening account * Kirkus Reviews *Norton is clearly a charmer, and Gethers tells his story with contagious affection....Will warm the heart of any confirmed cat-lover * Washington Post Book World *A delight. Norton, the cat, brings Gethers to some of life's great lessons ... He teaches Gethers the value of real commitments and the value of love -- Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown * Los Angeles Times Book Review *An entertaining romp that leaves no doubt that Mr Gethers and his cat have a most remarkable relationship * New York Times Book Review *
£14.39
Ebury Publishing Emma and I
Book SynopsisSheila Hocken is a writer and canine specialist, best known for her book Emma & I. Sheila was born in Beeston, Nottingham, in 1946, and lives near Nottingham today. Sheila is actively involved in the canine world as a dog trainer. Her website is www.sheila-hocken-dog-training.com.Trade ReviewA delightful and courageous autobiography ... will move you to tears * Sunday Express *I confess to having a large lump in my throat as I read Sheila Hocken's story. Touching and joyful * Daily Mirror *The year's most poignant true story * Woman's Own *One of the most poignant works I have ever read. It is a beautiful book * Liverpool Echo *
£13.49
Ebury Publishing Our Garden Birds
Book SynopsisIn this beautiful, collectible new volume, street artist Matt Sewell offers his own unique take on 52 of Britain''s favorite garden birds. Since its first appearance in July 2009, Matt''s Bird of the Week feature for the Caught by the River website has quickly become a cult hit. His pop-art watercolors are distinctive and enchanting, as are his innovative descriptions. With 52 birds, one for each week of the year, this delightful gift book will appeal to birders, children, and adults, and art and design fans alike.Trade ReviewAn offbeat book featuring 52 charming characterful illustrations of our best-loved British birds. * BBC Wildlife *
£13.49
Ebury Publishing Our Songbirds
Book SynopsisIn this beautiful follow-up to 2012''s hit, Our Garden Birds, street artist Matt Sewell offers more watercolours and quirky descriptions of British songbirds.In Matt''s world, the peewit sings the blues, and the bittern fills his neck ''like a tweed pair of bellows''. Distinctive and enchanting, with a songbird for each week of the year, this delightful gift book will appeal to birders, children and adults, and art and design fans alike.
£11.40
Cornerstone Stories in the Stars
Book Synopsis***AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4***Travel the night sky and discover the stories in the stars. What a beautiful book it is! A treasured possession.' Mary Beard ''No astronomy book can claim to be as beautiful as the night sky, but Stories in the Stars comes closest!'' Tristan GooleyLook up: above us is a jet-black canvas pricked with white dots, and a carnival of animals, mythical creatures, gods and goddesses in its shining constellations. Here, Susanna Hislop writer and stargazer and Hannah Waldron international artist leap between centuries, cultures and traditions to present a whole universe of stories in all their blazing glory. Stories in the Stars is an imaginative and whimsical exploration of each of the night sky's 88 constellations: a playful and stunningly illustrated compendium.Trade ReviewWhat a beautiful book it is! A treasured possession. -- Mary BeardNo astronomy book can claim to be as beautiful as the night sky, but Stories in the Stars comes closest! I'm learning something new every day and having a lot of fun in the process. -- Tristan Gooley, The Natural Navigator
£21.25
Ebury Publishing The Happy Puppy Handbook Your Definitive Guide to
Book SynopsisPippa Mattinson, dog-training specialist, tells you everything you need to know about training and caring for your new puppy. From preparing the house and garden before the puppy arrives, to introducing your new friend to all the family (including children and other animals), and solving problems like crying, night waking, feeding, upset stomachs, biting, chewing and jumping up, this book is packed with all you need to know as a puppy owner.
£11.69
Ebury Publishing Our Woodland Birds
Book SynopsisArtist and illustrator Matt Sewell has been described as the Banksy of the bird world. He has illustrated for the Guardian and Barbour, amongst many others, and exhibited in London, Manchester, New York, Tokyo and Paris. Matt is an avid ornithologist and regular contributor to the Caught by The River website. He lives in Shrewsbury with his partner and two children.
£13.50
Ebury Publishing Owls
Book SynopsisIn this beautiful follow-up to Our Garden Birds, Our Songbirds and Our Woodland Birds, street artist Matt Sewell captures the world's most evocative bird: the owl. In his much-loved pop-art watercolours and accompanied with his whimsical descriptions, Matt Sewell expresses the individual characters of owls as never before. From tiny Elf Owls to huge Eagle Owls, from the mysterious creatures of the night to an impossibly fluffy baby owl, they are undoubtedly one of the world's most intriguing feathered friends. These wise, magical birds are otherworldly in their striking colours and stature, and it''s not just birdwatchers who are obsessed. With 50 hand-selected, hand-painted owls, this is a delightful gift which appeals to owl lovers, bird-watching enthusiasts, children, adults and art and design fans alike.
£11.99
Ebury Publishing Spotting and Jotting Guide
Book SynopsisThere is nothing better than spotting a bird you have never seen before, so here is a handy way of keeping all your jottings in check. In Matt Sewell''s much-loved pop art style, and small enough to pop in your pocket, Our Garden Birds: Spotting and Jotting is the perfect accessory for bird-seekers and nature-lovers alike. Replicated in stunning watercolours and true-to-life, discover wild and wonderful birds from Greenfinches to Goldcrests, Blackcaps and Collared doves. So, grab your binoculars and start spotting and jotting your favourite feathered friends.
£11.65
Vintage Publishing Wonderful Life
Book SynopsisHigh in the Canadian Rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago. Called the Burgess Shale, it holds the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived - a forgotten corner of evolution preserved in incredible detail. In this book Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale might tell us about evolution and the nature of history.The Darwinian theory of evolution is a well-known, well-explored area. But there is one aspect of human life which this theory of evolution fails to account for: chance. Using the brilliantly preserved fossil fauna of the Burgess Shale as his case study, Gould argues that chance was in fact one of the decisive factors in the evolution of life on this planet, and that, with a flip of coin, everything could have been very different indeed.Trade ReviewA masterpiece of analysis and imagination...It centres on a sensational discovery in the field of palaeontology - the existence, in the Burgess Shale... of 530-million-year-old fossils unique in age, preservation and diversity...With skill and passion, Gould takes this mute collection of fossils and makes them speak to us. The result challenges some of our most cherished self-perceptions and urges a fundamental re-assessment of our place in the history of life on earth * Sunday Times *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Tree
Book SynopsisIn this series of moving recollections involving both his childhood and his work as a mature artist, John Fowles explains the impact of nature on his life and the dangers inherent in our traditional urge to categorise, to tame and ultimately to possess the landscape. This acquisitive drive leads to alienation and an antagonism to the apparent disorder and randomness of the natural world. For John Fowles the tree is the best analogue of prose fiction, symbolising the wild side of our psyche, and he stresses the importance in art of the unpredictable, the unaccountable and the intuitive. This fascinating text gives a unique insight into the author and offers the key to a true understanding of the inspiration for his work.Trade ReviewA text of unusual beauty and perception * Publishers Weekly *Magnificent... Mystical * Daily Telegraph *Gritty and entertaining * Sunday Telegraph *Fowles' language is strong, green, discursive, related throughout to his own life and memories * Vogue *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing Birders
Book SynopsisSince 1972 Mark Cocker has been a member of a community of obsessional people, almost all male, who sacrifice most of their spare time, a good deal of money, sometimes their chances of a partner or family, even occasionally their lives, to watch birds. Birders is the story of this community, of its characters, its rules, its equipment and its adventures - many of which are hilariously funny, Birders is also a work of love - the story of what birds can do to the human heart.Trade ReviewAt last! An up to date examination of what makes birders tick. And about time too! Wonderfully written * Bill Oddie *A natural history version of Fever Pitch... Reading it may even make you want to try out this strangely addictive past time for yourself * Guardian *Intensely readable, very funny and highly enlightening * New Scientist *With a mixture of well-chosen anecdotes and self-deprecating humour, Cocker succeeds in making event he most hardened cynic appreciate his passion. Birders is a stylish work in a long tradition of fine writing on the subject * Guardian *The best account yet of the "tribe" and its wonderful, unworldly passions * The Times *
£14.39
Vintage Publishing Crow Country
Book SynopsisOne night Mark Cocker followed the roiling, deafening flock of rooks and jackdaws which regularly passed over his Norfolk home on their way to roost in the Yare valley. From the moment he watched the multitudes blossom as a mysterious dark flower above the night woods, these gloriously commonplace birds were unsheathed entirely from their ordinariness. They became for Cocker a fixation and a way of life.Cocker goes in search of them, journeying from the cavernous, deadened heartland of South England to the hills of Dumfriesshire, experiencing spectacular failures alongside magical successes and epiphanies. Step by step he uncovers the complexities of the birds'' inner lives, the unforeseen richness hidden in the raucous crow song he calls ''our landscape made audible''.Crow Country is a prose poem in a long tradition of English pastoral writing. It is also a reminder that ''Crow Country'' is not ''ours'': it is a landscape which we cohabit with thousands of otTrade ReviewLuminously beautiful and dartingly intelligent, Cocker's obsessive quest after the ancient trails of rooks across our dusk skies leads to an almost sacred space: a place where the landscape of the imagination and the lovingly, minutely observed realities of the natural world come to roost together -- Richard MabeyGuaranteed to ensure that you never look at a crow in quite the same way again * Guardian *Fabulous... Like all classic works of natural history, is is an extraordinary revelation of riches and wonders and that lie at our doorsteps, completely ignored * Independent *A splendid book...Crow Country's narrative of rookish discovery unfolds with splendid variety, incorporating scientific exposition, biography, environmental history, poetry, memoir and biography... Your heart beats faster as he describes a pack of tight-packed wigeon flushing in fear from an icy creak. You feel the shock of recognition as a barn owl meets his gaze. It's infectiously emotional. At it's most lyrical Crow Country matches the heights of that deeply eerie work of avian obsession JA Baker's The Peregrine; yet at its most scientific, it could sit alongside the best ornithological monographs... Crow Country is a significant, beautiful work * New Statesman *Exquisitely written, passionate exploration of the local and commonplace * BBC Wildlife *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Gould S Richness of Life
Book SynopsisStephen Jay Gould was the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Professor of Geology at Harvard and the Curator for Invertebrate Palaeontology in the University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. He died in May 2002.Steven Rose is Professor of Biology and Director of the Brain and Behaviour Research Group at The Open University, Visiting Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at University College London, and, jointly with sociologist Hilary Rose, Professor of Physic (genetics and society) at Gresham College, London. His books include The Making of Memory (1992), Lifelines (1997), Alas, Poor Darwin: Arguments Against Evolutionary Psychology (with Hilary Rose) (2000) and The 21st-Century Brain (2004).Paul McGarr is a mathematics teacher in an east London secondary school and a leading member of the Respect coalition in Tower Hamlets. He is on the editorial board of the International Socialism quarterly journal and has written regularly for that journal on issues around science and society. He has written a number of articles and books, including Marxism and the Great French Revolution (1992) and Mozart: Overture to Revolution (2001).Trade ReviewThis "best of Gould" collection leaves two strong impressions. One is that evolution is as proven a fact as gravity but that how it works is an unsolved problem. The other is that, for the practitioners, science is fun -- Brenda Maddox * The Times *Georgeously crafted essays... entertaining... makes a plausible case for supporting claims that the author was a modern-day Montaigne of science... a rewarding read * Sunday Telegraph *A modern polymath -- John R. G. Turner * Times Literary Supplement *A great scientist and science writer * Sunday Times *A Western Science phenomenon. His quirkiness, his ability to coalesce seemingly unconnected topics, and his individual passion are qualities that help make him such a powerful writer * Observer *
£16.14
Cornerstone The Feather Thief
Book SynopsisKirk Wallace Johnson served in Iraq with the US Agency for International Development in Baghdad and Fallujah as the Agency's first co-ordinator for reconstruction in the war-torn city. He went on to found The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. His work on behalf of Iraqi refugees was profiled by This American Life, 60 Minutes, the Today Show, the subject of a feature-length documentary, The List, and a memoir, To Be a Friend is Fatal.A Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, and the recipient of fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the Wurlitzer Foundation, his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times and the Washington Post. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, son and daughter.Trade ReviewThe Feather Thief truly is a tale of obsession . . . A wonderfully assured writer, [Johnson] takes us on a curious journey into the past . . . Vivid and arresting. * The Times *A fascinating investigation of a seriously ridiculous crime * New Scientist *Within pages I was hooked. This is a weird and wonderful book . . . Johnson is a master of pacing and suspense . . . it’s a tribute to Johnson’s storytelling gifts that when I turned the last page I felt bereft. * Spectator *The Feather Thief is a riveting read. It also stands, I believe, as a reminder of how an obsession with the ornaments of nature — be they feathers, bird eggs or ivory — can wreak havoc on our scientific heritage * Nature *Weird and wonderful * The Tablet *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Down To The Sea In Ships
Book Synopsis''Magnificent'' Robert MacfarlaneWinner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the YearOur lives depend on shipping but it is a world which is largely hidden from us. In every lonely corner of every sea, through every night, every day, and every imaginable weather, tiny crews of seafarers work the giant ships which keep landed life afloat. These ordinary men live extraordinary lives, subject to dangers and difficulties we can only imagine, from hurricanes and pirates to years of confinement in hazardous, if not hellish, environments. Horatio Clare joins two container ships on their epic voyages across the globe and experiences unforgettable journeys. As the ships cross seas of history and incident, seafarers unfold the stories of their lives, and a beautiful and terrifying portrait of the oceans and their human subjects emerges.''Tremendous'' The TimesTrade ReviewWonderful… Clare’s account of his journeys with the officers and crews of container ships is gripping and stomach-churning in equal measure * Daily Telegraph *[A] beautifully written account of seafaring life -- Ian Critchley * Sunday Times *A lyrical, heartfelt but eye-opening chronicle... Both romantic and realistic, written from the heart but crafted with a seafarer’s “passionate precision”, [Clare’s] book will steer you into the new year on a course that may deepen your grasp both of that world, and of ourselves -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *If you can't run away to sea (though I recommend you do), Clare's book is a warm and captivating companion to it * Guardian *Stupendous and extraordinarily exciting... What Clare demonstrates, even beyond his undoubted gifts as writer, is his basic humanity. I read his wonderful book with gratitude for his insight – but also with increased admiration for the men to whom we owe almost everything in our comfortable and secure lives -- Philip Hoare * Times Higher Education *Rich and dense, full of old sea-dog stories, with barely a word wasted, it’s a triumph of quiet artistry -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail *This is a warm and lyrical book about a tough trade in tough times -- Sara Wheeler * Observer *Wonderful... Clare’s writing is fluid, light and eminently readable, but perhaps his greatest asset is his empathy -- Philip Hoare * Sunday Telegraph *Clare’s powers of plain description are tremendous -- Libby Purves * The Times *A fabulous account... There is Conradian insight in Clare’s portrayal of the crews to which he is supernumerary, from the captain who hums as he negotiates narrow channels to the first mate constantly crunching carrots -- Giles Foden * Condé Nast Traveller *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Worm Forgives the Plough
Book SynopsisJohn Stewart Collis was born in 1900. His father was a Dublin solicitor and Collis was educated at Rugby School and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1925 he published a biography of George Bernard Shaw and he later went on to write other biographical works and also became a pioneer of the ecological movement in Britain. During the Second World War his wife and daughters were evacuated to the United States and he worked for the Land Army as an agricultural labourer - accompanied by his beloved dog, Bindo. His memoirs and meditations on rural life, While Following the Plough (1946) and Down to Earth (1947) were first published together as The Worm Forgives the Plough in 1973, which has become a classic of nature writing.Trade ReviewHe is the poet among modern ecologists, a natural philosopher who , whether he is writing about trees or rainbows, an iceberg or a piece of chalk, never takes a fact without linking it to an idea, or an idea without connecting it to a fact. His book dispenses information in the language of the imagination, and by peeling back the film by which everything appears dully familiar, reveals a vision of the world miraculously transfigured -- Michael Holroyd * The Times *Collis' divine gift is to explain the extraordinary nature of the ordinary * Sunday Times *A philosopher who had a shining view of the natural world, and was able to divine the magic inherent in phenomena so commonplace that we take them for granted * Guardian *These jottings establish the man as one of the greatest recorders of English agricultural life -- Val Hennessey * Daily Mail *A little classic * The Oldie *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Edgelands
Book SynopsisMichael Symmons Roberts (Author) Michael Symmons Roberts was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1963. He has published eight collections of poetry and received a number of accolades including the Forward Prize, the Costa Poetry Award and the Whitbread Poetry Prize. His Selected Poems was published in 2016. As a librettist, his work has been performed in concert halls and opera houses around the world, and he is an award-winning broadcaster and dramatist. He is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, his Quartet for the End of Time: On Music, Grief and Birdsong was published in 2025.Paul Farley (Author) Paul Farley is the author of four collections of poetry and has won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Whitbread Poetry Award and the E.M. Forster Award. He broadcasts regularly on radio and presents The Echo Chamber on Radio 4. Edgelands, co-written with Michael Symmons Roberts, received the Royal Society of Literature's Jerwood Award and the 2011 Foyles Best Book of Ideas Award and was serialised as Radio 4 Book of the Week.Trade ReviewThis book is a delight: witty and wryly contrarian -- Robert MacFarlane * Guardian *A masterpiece of its kind... Even more uplifting is the chapter on weather - truly one of the most extraordinary passages of prose I have read in some time... This is, quite simply, beautiful, but it is also typical of a beautifully conceived work of exploration, by two emissaries to the wilderness who do the wasteland proud -- John Burnside * The Times *Marvellously quirky, fascinatingly detailed and beautifully written * Daily Telegraph *The edgelands, where the veneer of civilisation peels away, are the most despised and ignored of landscapes. Ambition turns to dust in the sewage farm and landfill site. But Farley and Roberts's mischievous and elegant forays into these marginal wastes, show that dust turns back to life in them - into riotous ecologies, agitprop architecture and the wonderful business of playing. A provocative, left-field read -- Richard MabeyHaunting, often inspiring book...Edgelands covers an impressive range of politics, reminiscence, investigation and rumination * Scotland on Sunday *
£10.44
Random House UK The Wolf Pit
Book Synopsisonly after childhood ended was he aware of the price the adults had paid for life in this most romantic of settings.Navigating family tensions and the trials of growing up, Will describes the close-knit community of North Yorkshire and his family's place within it: the shepherd probing the head-high snowdrifts for his flock;Trade ReviewA love letter to a family defined by a desire to make beauty and a gift for telling stories. The Wolf Pit has more quietly desperate heroism than any book I’ve ever read. -- Brian Morton * Sunday Herald *Persuasive, atmospheric writing. A love letter to a past world * Sunday Times *Bittersweet * The Times *The book takes on an existential desire to understand who we really are * Spectator *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Wild Hares and Hummingbirds
Book SynopsisThe village of Mark on the Somerset Levels is a watery wonderland, rich in wildlife: rooks and roe deer; sparrows and snowdrops; buzzards, badgers and butterflies; the iconic brown hare and the spectacular hummingbird hawk-moth. This title is both the story of a small corner of the West Country and a celebration of the natural world.Trade ReviewDelightful, soothing and informative * Daily Mail *An enchanting book, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is a combination of celebration for what is and regret for what is passing. It is elegiac * Daily Express *An enchanting month-by-month guide to "the natural history of an English village". As richly evocative of January as of June, Moss captures the flora and the fauna of his Somerset home with a grace and charm to warm the coldest winter night * Independent *[A] charmingly produced book…readers are in the hands of an expert -- Steven Barfiel * The Lady *This engaging account…should spark interest in country-dwellers and provide a transporting read for townies. In his placid style, Moss is profoundly informative -- Christopher Hirst * Independent *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing A Sting in the Tale
Book Synopsis**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**One man''s quest to save the bumblebee...Dave Goulson has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees.Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-haired bumblebee is now extinct in the UK, but still exists in the wilds of New Zealand, descended from a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century.A Sting in the Tale tells the story of Goulson''s passionate drive to reintroduce it to its native land and contains groundbreaking research into these curious creatures, history''s relationship with the bumblebee, the disastrous effects intensive farming has had on our bee populations and the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.Trade Review[Goulson’s] book is not only enormously informative, but also hugely entertaining: its light touch and constant humour make cutting-edge research a pleasure to read about… For anyone interested in the natural world, this is essential reading. -- Michael McCarthy * Independent *Goulson reminds himself that he ‘began studying bumblebees not because they are important pollinators but because they are fascinating, because they behave in interesting and mysterious ways, and because they are rather loveable.’ It’s worth reading A Sting in the Tale for the same reasons. -- Hannah Rosefield * Literary Review *A worthy book of the year. -- Mary Beard * Observer *Goulson has plenty of wondrous biological stories to tell, as well as the tale of his own struggle to return the short-haired bumblebee to Britain. -- Patrick Barkham * Guardian *This isn’t one of those natural science books that simply tells you things – it admits how much we don’t know. -- Mark Mason * Spectator *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Vesper Flights
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThrilling dispatches from a vanishing world... A powerful - and entertaining - corrective to the idea that the only hopes that matter on this planet are those of our own species. -- Tim Adams * Observer *Vesper Flights is a book of ideas and urgent, beautiful writing... [Macdonald] is a writer whose every word is to be cherished. -- Tom Lathan * Spectator *Helen Macdonald is one of the best nature writers now working. -- Simon Ings * Telegraph *Books of the Year* *Nature writing at its best... All kinds of wondrous... Each and every essay reminded me what a gifted writer Macdonald is. Her prose is poetry but it also has a drenching kind of a clarity. And this is good because we shouldn't allow ourselves to be lulled by the sheer pleasure of reading her. For these are urgent pieces designed to open our eyes. -- Caroline Sanderson * Bookseller *Book of the Month* *An antidote to so much romantic, reductive writing about the natural world... Macdonald's writing teems with other voices and perspectives, with her own challenges to herself. It muddies any facile ideas about nature and the human, and prods at how we pleat our prejudices, politics and desires into our notions of the animal world... Hers is a gritty, companionable intimacy with the wild... The essays...are short, varied and highly edible. -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *
£10.44
Random House Cold Blood
Book SynopsisRichard Kerridge leads the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. His essays have been published in Granta and Poetry Review, and he has twice won the BBC Wildlife Award for Nature Writing.Trade ReviewCold Blood shows us how much is to be gained from studying nature. A book that persuades anyone to try sampling life at first-hand rather than at second is much to be welcomed’ -- Steve Jones * Sunday Telegraph *In prose as effortless as a snake's progress, Richard Kerridge has written a wry, wise and refreshingly understated memoir -- Patrick Barkham * Guardian *Cold Blood casts an unexpected but beautiful love-light across ordinary England, and its uncaring reptiles and amphibians -- Tim Dee * Observer *Subtle and meditative, lyrical and passionate * Gavin Francis *Simply wonderful…the natural history book I have been waiting for * Brett Westwood *A mix of memoir, science writing and humn to nature, this will propel Kerridge into the pantheon of great 21st-century nature writers. He tells the story of his fascination with reptiles and explains what it is to be cold blooded. -- Patrick Neale * The Bookseller *[A] perceptive memoir...Cold Blood is proof that an early infatuation with the natural world can lead to a lifetime of wonder -- Barbara Kiser * nature *Perceptive and original... Kerridge writes vividly of the natural world -- Gerard Henderson * Daily Express *As a memoir, Cold Blood has the feel of a minor classic. It is exquisite. As a piece of nature writing, it is also rich, subtle and shot through with quiet passion -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *[A] perceptive memoir... Cold Blood is proof that an early infatuation with the natural world can lead to a lifetime of wonder -- Pete Dommett * BBC Wildlife *
£13.85
Vintage Publishing The Ash and The Beech
Book SynopsisFrom ash die-back to the Great Storm of 1987 to Dutch elm disease, our much-loved woodlands seem to be under constant threat from a procession of natural challenges. Just when we need trees most, to help combat global warming and to provide places of retreat for us and our wildlife, they seem at greatest peril. But these dangers force us to reconsider the narrative we construct about trees and the roles we press on them.In this now classic book, Richard Mabey looks at how, for more than a thousand years, we have appropriated and humanised trees, turning them into arboreal pets, status symbols, expressions of fashionable beauty - anything rather than allow them lives of their own. And in the poetic and provocative style he has made his signature, Mabey argues that respecting trees'' independence and ancient powers of survival may be the wisest response to their current crises. Originally published with the title Beechcombings, this updated edition includes aTrade ReviewWonderfully subversive, far-reaching and unsentimental * Observer *Richard Mabey is a man for all seasons, most regions and every kind of landscape -- Andrew Motion * Financial Times *An elegant and heartfelt essay on mankind's changing relationship with trees * Sunday Telegraph *A leaf-storm of philosophical musings, journeys of mind and body, reflections and anecdotes that imprint the tree on human culture * Sunday Times *A terrific combination of both natural and intellectual history, informed by penetrating insight * Independent *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing LINESCAPES
Book SynopsisGlorious Political, passionate, perceptive' Robert MacfarlaneAn eye-opening exploration of the lines that cut through our countryside, from hedges to railways, and a passionate manifesto for reconnecting wildlife.Our landscape has been transformed by a vast network of lines, from hedges and walls to railways and power cables. In Linescapes, Hugh Warwick unravels the far-reaching ecological consequences of these changes. As our lives and our land were fenced in and threaded together, wildlife habitats were cut into ever smaller and increasingly unviable fragments. Yet as Warwick travels across this linescape, he shows that we can help our flora and fauna to flourish once again. With his fresh and bracing perspective on Britain's countryside, he proposes a challenge and gives ground for hope, for our lines can and do contain a real potential for wildness and for wildlife.Trade ReviewIn Linescapes, Hugh Warwick has written a gloriously unclassifiable book, a manifesto-adventure-exploration-reflection that manages to be political, passionate, perceptive – and very funny -- Robert MacfarlaneA requiem, a call to arms and a delighted amble along a hedge: a kind, wise, angry, jolly and mournful book, as rumbustiously readable as it is urgently important -- Charles Foster, author of Being a BeastPart discovery, part wonderment, both a travel narrative and a scientific exploration, Linescapes could change the way we perceive our land and its inhabitants forever -- Miriam Darlington, author of Otter CountryA fascinating work of landscape detection based on entirely straight journeys -- Stephen Moss, Best Nature Books of 2017 * Guardian *Eye-opening and inspiring. Linescapes has utterly transformed my vision of the British countryside. Hugh Warwick offers a compelling primer for rethinking and rewilding our fragmented natural world. -- Roman Krznaric, author of Empathy and Carpe Diem Regained
£15.83
Elsevier Science Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences
Book Synopsis
£2,263.50
Penguin Random House LLC The Land of Little Rain Classic Nature Penguin
£18.00
Penguin Random House LLC My First Summer in the Sierra Penguin nature library
£18.00
Penguin Books Ltd The Map That Changed the World
Book SynopsisTHE EXTRAORDINARY TALE OF THE FATHER OF MODERN GEOLOGYHidden behind velvet curtains above a stairway in a house in London''s Piccadilly is an enormous and beautiful hand-coloured map - the first geological map of anywhere in the world. Its maker was a farmer''s son named William Smith. Born in 1769 his life was troubled: he was imprisoned for debt, turned out of his home, his work was plagiarised, his wife went insane and the scientific establishment shunned him. It was not until 1829, when a Yorkshire aristocrat recognised his genius, that he was returned to London in triumph: The Map That Changed the World is his story.''For a geologist, this is a must read'' Amazon Reviewer''It serves to lift a genius from academic semi-obscurity and to award him the acknowledgement he undoubtedly deserves'' Amazon Reviewer''Never realised how seminal this map was'' Amazon Reviewer
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Secret Life of Trees
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.
£11.69
Tbs-Penguin Random House Wholesale The Farm The Story of One Family and the English
Book SynopsisWhile growing up, the author felt like 'the village idiot with O'levels'. He left Yorkshire to work as a journalist in London, but returned when his dad called with the news that they were going to have to sell the family farm, and, in so doing, leave the home and livelihood. This book presents his personal account.
£14.39
Penguin Books Ltd Why Birds Sing
Book SynopsisThe richness and variety of birdsong is both a scientific mystery and a source of wonder. David Rothenberg has a unique approach to this fascinating subject, combining the latest scientific research with a deep understanding of musical beauty and form. Can the standard explanations of territoriality or sexual selection account for so many species'' astonishing inventiveness and devotion to singing? Whether playing the clarinet with the white-crested laughing thrush in Pittsburgh or jamming in the Australian winter breeding grounds of the Albert''s lyrebird, Rothenberg touches the heart and soul of birdsong, offering an intimate look at the most lovely of natural phenomena.
£14.39
Penguin Books Ltd The Corfu Trilogy
Book Synopsis*The classic trilogy set in sun-soaked Corfu that inspired ITV''s acclaimed TV series The Durrells*Three classic tales of childhood on an island paradise - My Family and Other Animals, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods by Gerald Durrell - are available in a single edition for the first time in The Corfu Trilogy.Just before the Second World War the Durrell family decamped to the glorious, sun-soaked island of Corfu where the youngest of the four children, ten-year-old Gerald, discovered his passion for animals: toads and tortoises, bats and butterflies, scorpions and octopuses. Through glorious silver-green olive groves and across brilliant-white beaches Gerry pursued his obsession . . . causing hilarity and mayhem in his ever-tolerant family.''A delightful book full of simple, well-known things: cicadas in the olive groves, lamp fishing at night, the complexities of fish and animals - but, above all, childhood moulded by these things'' New York Times
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Underland
Book SynopsisA beautiful gift for the intrepid explorer in your life by one of the most acclaimed and beloved nature writers working today, the internationally bestselling, prize-winning author of Landmarks, The Lost Words and The Old WaysA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2019WINNER OF THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020''You''d be crazy not to read this book'' The Sunday TimesA Guardian Best Book of the 21st CenturyIn Underland, Robert Macfarlane takes us on a journey into the worlds beneath our feet. From the ice-blue depths of Greenland''s glaciers, to the underground networks by which trees communicate, from Bronze Age burial chambers to the rock art of remote Arctic sea-caves, this is a deep-time voyage into the planet''s past and future. Global in its geography, gripping in its voice and haunting in its implications, Underland is a work of huge range and power, and a remarkable new chapter in Macfarlane''s long-term exploration of landscape and the human heart.SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020 ''Macfarlane has invented a new kind of book, really a new genre entirely'' The Irish Times''He is the great nature writer, and nature poet, of this generation'' Wall Street Journal ''Macfarlane has shown how utterly beautiful a brilliantly written travel book can still be'' Observer on The Old Ways''Irradiated by a profound sense of wonder... Few books give such a sense of enchantment; it is a book to give to many, and to return to repeatedly'' Independent on Landmarks''It sets the imagination tingling...like reading a prose Odyssey sprinkled with imagist poems'' The Sunday Times on The Old WaysTrade Reviewa brilliant, thrilling, terrifying work of literature, making me want to think more adventurously and live more deeply. * Amy Liptrot *All Macfarlane's books are urgings to take a closer look at the environment we live in, and at the natural world especially. They are perception-shifters. And with its darker, delving subject matter counter-weighing its lyricism, Underland is a magnificent feat of writing, travelling and thinking that feels genuinely frontier-pushing, unsettling and exploratory * Evening Standard *Robert Macfarlane is a magician with words. In Underland he shows us how to see in the dark. His writing is like a vortex... Once caught, you're pulled deeper and deeper with each page -- Andrea Wulf, best-selling author of 'The Invention of Nature'Devastating, lyrical, blazingly vivid... An examination of the darknesses invisible beneath our feet. The book's great power comes from Macfarlane's deliberate turn away from despair and toward a deliberate, loving, and luminous sense of awe -- Lauren GroffRobert Macfarlane's writing reminds us of the astonishing variety of things you can see when you go at walking speed, and of how strange and rich the world is -- Philip PullmanThe great nature writer, and nature poet, of this generation * Wall Street Journal *Exquisite. [Robert Macfarlane] evokes so vividly places to which I and probably you will never go, and at the eeriness of the places themselves and the sense of vast scale they restore to us at a time when it can feel like the world has shrunken around us -- Rebecca SolnitAn epic descent into a series of underground and underwater landscapes * Financial Times *Beautifully written and wise, this haunting book is a treasure... It reads like a seamless dive, crawl, and trek through deep time, in sense-rich landscapes, accompanied by fascinating views of the human saga. Its unique spell is irresistible -- Diane AckermanBeautifully and bravely balanced... This is a radical book in every sense. It goes as deep as it can, unafraid of the risk that what it finds will turn everything on its head * The Oldie *Thrilling and soulful, raw and erudite. Robert Macfarlane writes of his astonishing subterranean explorations with wondrous, indelible power... Underland is a profound reckoning with humankind's self-imperiled position in nature's eternal order. It is a book of revelations -- Philip GourevitchRobert Macfarlane has long provided us with some of the most distinctive and sensitive thinking about how humans understand and experience the terrestrial world. Underland [is] his most urgent, universal, and expansive book yet -- Francisco CantuWhat a total delight. Once again, so many enlivening encounters along paths less frequently trod. Macfarlane remains our perfect guide, reminding us there's so much in the world to wonder at -- Benedict AllenEye-opening, lyrical and moving...capturing the poetry beneath the science. * Publisher's Weekly *Underland is a startling and memorable book, charting invisible and vanishing worlds. Macfarlane has made himself Orpheus, the poet who ventures down to the darkest depths and returns - frighteningly alone-to sing of what he has seen * New Statesman *You'd be crazy not to read this book * The Sunday Times *Marvellous... Neverending curiosity, generosity of spirit, erudition, bravery and clarity... This is a book well worth reading * The Times *Extraordinary... at once learned and readable, thrilling and beautifully written * Observer *
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Secret Life of Birds
Book SynopsisIn The Secret Life of Birds, lifelong bird enthusiast Colin Tudge explores the extraordinary variety, secret history and hidden importance of birds around the world. Birds are beautiful, intriguing and life-enhancing. They can do everything mammals can, and even more besides. Collected here are birds who navigate using the stars, tool-making crows, territorial robins, cooperative penguins and swans who mate for life - among hundreds of others. Revealing everything from why birds sing to how they fly, think, bond and survive, from how they evolved (and whether it really is from dinosaurs) to why, in so many ways, they are very much like us, this rich, evocative book will make you love and admire the birds that are all around you. ''Enjoyable ... entertaining ... masterful'' Stephen Moss, Guardian ''Simply fizzing with ideas ... his heart is with the birds'' Literary Review ''Inspired ... Tudge''s writing is always clear and frequently embellished with wry humour'' Richard Fortey, Sunday Telegraph ''Only when we read this scintillating study do we see how little we''ve known about the creatures we see around us'' Michael Kerrigan, Scotsman Books of the Year ''An author whose own deep relish for the extraordinary lives of birds seems only marginally less pleasurable to him than sharing that wonder with others'' BBC Wildlife Magazine When Colin Tudge was a small boy, he could recognize only five kinds of birds. After studying zoology at Cambridge, Colin wrote for the New Scientist and was a documentary maker for BBC radio. His other books, also published by Penguin, include The Secret Life of Trees and So Shall We Reap: What''s Gone Wrong with the World''s Food - and How to Fix It.
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Eerie Silence
Book SynopsisPaul Davies'' The Eerie Silence: Searching For Ourselves in the Universe is an engaging and lucid guide to the ''Fermi Paradox'' - why isn''t the universe teeming with alien life? If aliens ever contact us, it will be the single most significant event in human history. And Paul Davies will be responsible for saying something back. For fifty years the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence has been scanning the skies. Now Davies, head of SETI''s Post-Detection Task Group, with ''a rare talent for making physics mind-bogglingly vivid and exciting'' (Times Higher Education), explores what the mysterious silence it has encountered could mean. Here he looks at exciting new ways to make contact with extra-terrestrial life. He considers what form advanced alien intelligence is likely to take if it exists. And more importantly, what exactly it would mean if it didn''t - how extraordinary it would be if we were alone, to be human and here inTrade ReviewIn an area more given to fabulation than fact, [Paul Davies'] level-headedness is positively refreshing. If you ever start worrying about why no one is talking to us, this is the book to calm you down -- David Papineau * Observer *Davies is the most engaging of writers -- Clive Cookson * FT *An immensely readable investigation of the SETI enterprise -- Michael Hanlon * New Scientist *A magnificent cosmic tour d'horizon of what we know, and what we might yet encounter out there, in the apparent emptiness of deep space -- Christoper Hart * Sunday Times *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd In Defence of Dogs
Book SynopsisWhat would dogs ask for, if they knew how? In the Sunday Times bestseller In Defence of Dogs John Bradshaw, an anthropologist at Bristol University who has been at the centre of the latest research into what makes dogs tick, gives us the answers.Overturning the most common myths about dogs'' emotions and behaviour, this book shows how we should really treat our pets, and stands up for dogdom: not the wolf in canine clothes, not the small furry child, not the trophy-winner, but the real dog, who wants to be part of the family and enjoy life - mankind''s closest friend. This is the real science that every dog lover needs to know.Trade ReviewA revelation - a major rethink about the way we understand our dogs ... there is no doubt about it - Professor John Bradshaw is a dog's best friend -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *Every dog lover, dog owner or prospective dog buyer should read this book. It will change how you feel about dogs and, likely enough, how you treat them, too -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *A must-read for dog lovers everywhere * Independent *Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complicated psychology behind the growl, the rising hackles and the wagging tail -- Roy Hattersley * Daily Telegraph *Scholarly yet passionate ... nothing less than a manifesto for a new understanding of our canine friends ... fascinating -- Chris Cox * Guardian *A lovely and clear-headed book on all things dog-emotion, mind, and breed. John Bradshaw's authority and experience are matched by the thoughtfulness and humanity of his writing. Read this before you bring a dog into your life. -- Alexandra Horowitz * author of 'Inside of a Dog' *[A] wonderful, reassuring, and encouraging book ... distinguishes canine science from canine folklore -- Jonathan Mirsky * Literary Review *Truly fascinating ... rich in ideas and counter-ideas, and will reward anyone who respects animals ... enlightening ... Bradshaw's years of knowledge and his clear passion for dogs both shine through * The Sunday Business Post *Authoritative, wise and, in its sharp appreciation of the cost of dogs of living with us, rather moving -- Robert Hanks * Independent *The most fantastic book ... required reading for dog lovers everywhere * Observer *A well-grounded overview of the Canis family's evolutionary journey...this is what makes the book so appealing. He does more than simply lay out interesting theories; he uses science to advocate for a better life for companion dogs. * The Bark *A wonderfully informative, quietly passionate book that will benefit every dog whose owner reads it * Economist *Wonderfully humane, calmly-written and curiously moving ... [a] lovely book, illuminating for everyone who has or is thinking of having a dog -- Michael Bywater * The First Post *By giving the reader an overview of mankind's relationship with both dogs and wolves, [Bradshaw] also shows us ourselves -- Bella Bathurst * Observer *One may feel fully confident when reading [this] ... Bradshaw makes deft work of summarising important and novel insights on dog evolution * Times Higher Education *An alternative to conventional, dominance-based approaches to understanding dogs (Cesar Millan's methods, for example) in an informative...guide to how canine biology and psychology determine behavior.... Bradshaw's book is useful to those looking to further their understanding of dog behavior and clarify common misconceptions * Publisher's Weekly *Both an interesting armchair read and an important primer for any dog owner * Science Focus *In Defence of Dogs provides an extensive insight into the minds of man's best friend - a must for all owners. John Bradshaw [is] a pioneer * Big Issue *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Born Wild
Book SynopsisTony Fitzjohn has spent over forty years re-introducing lions, leopards, rhinos and African Hunting Dogs to the wild. He is one of the world's leading field experts on the relationship between man and African wildlife. He was awarded the OBE by the Queen and the Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands for his services to wildlife.Trade Review'Brilliant, truly brilliant. I was hooked. It was inspiring, moving and exciting. He is the last of the swashbuckling conservationists who has selflessly devoted his life to the people and the wildlife of Africa. A true african adventure of epic proportions. It makes me want to give up everything and move to Africa'. -- Ben FogleHugely compelling and funnily written. From tragedies of the worst kind to triumphs unimaginable, he's a true pioneer making up solutions to situations as he goes along * Martin Clunes *Born Wild describes his breathless roller coaster across the African savannah with passion and humour, an inspirational tale of what one comitted individual can achieve against the odds -- Brian Jackman * Sunday Telegraph *The passages describing the lions the three men were raising and rehabilitating into the wild are odes to harmony, serentiy and understanding * Telegraph *
£14.39
