Nature and the natural world: general interest Books

Book Synopsis________________________ 'A beautiful and luminous love letter to the night sky.' - Julian Hoffman, author of Irreplaceable Moonlight, starlight, the ethereal glow of snow in winter ... When you flick off a switch, other forms of light begin to reveal themselves. In this beautifully written exploration of the power of the lights of night, Matt Gaw ventures forth into darkness to find out exactly what we're missing when we fill our world with artificial glow, obliterating the subtler natural lights that have guided us and wildlife for millennia. Walking by the light of the moon in Suffolk and under the scattered buckshot of starlight in Scotland; braving the darkest depths of Dartmoor and the glare of 24/7 London, Under the Stars is an inspirational and immersive call to reconnect with the natural world - and to switch off. We only need to step outside to find that, in darkness, the world lights up. Let's look up together. ________________________ 'Enchanting, fascinating and written with real soul and sensitivity.' - Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground 'Lyrical, warm, and suffused with the magic of the night' - Patrick Barkham, author of The Butterfly Isles 'One of the most inspiring of our young nature writers, with a highly original journey into darkness and night' - Stephen Moss, naturalist and author of The Robin: A BiographyTrade Review'Enchanting, fascinating and written with real soul and sensitivity.' - Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground'One of the most inspiring of our young nature writers, with a highly original journey into darkness and night' - Stephen Moss, naturalist and author of The Robin: A Biography 'Lyrical, warm, and suffused with the magic of the night' - Patrick Barkham, author of The Butterfly Isles 'A beautiful and - no other word is more apt - luminous love letter to the night sky.' - Julian Hoffman, author of Irreplaceable"Gaw finds wonder in the dark... The stand-out chapter for me was his getting lost in the Woods of Cree in absolute pitch black. Deep primordial horrors arise and make for gripping reading... This is a powerful and valiant plea for us all to see that, unlike in science fiction, light isn't always good." - BBC Countryfile Magazine"Under starlight and in moonlight, in the depths of the dark forest and on the streets of a city centre, Gaw goes on a nocturnal adventure to discover how light pollution disrupts and affects our own mental wellbeing, and the wellbeing of wildlife, too. En route he re-discovers the beauties of meteor showers and moonlight meanders, and encourages us to go on our own midnight adventures. Lyrical and lovely." - The Simple Things"Passionately argued and perfectly crafted... Under the Stars is a timely and inspiring manifesto explaining how 'by lighting our world sparingly, carefully... we can achieve something that would improve human health, protect wildlife, and help us to reconnect to the landscape and starscape at night'." - The Countryman"An exquisite, lyrical blend of nature writing, mythical story-telling and poetic elegy... Words are given to us in this book as a form of protection, an armour, a glistening cloak with which to keep ourselves on the track; no matter how cold it may be... Stunning." - Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Caught By the River (Book of the Month)

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 'Funny, accessible and full of wonders' Melissa Harrison, author of The Stubborn Light of Things Lev Parikian is on a joyful journey to discover the quirks, habits and wonders of how we experience nature. ___ It’s often said that we're a nation of nature lovers, but what does that really mean? Lev Parikian sets out to explore the many ways that he, and we, experience the natural world - from pavement to garden and from wildlife reserve to far-flung island. He visits the haunts of famous nature lovers to examine their insatiable curiosity; meets ramblers, birders and den-builders; and gets up close and personal with the nature he finds everywhere - including the kitchen sink. Open a window, hear the birds calling and join this warm and generous journey into the tangled bank. ___ ‘If, like me, you've got more *into nature* in the last few months, but sometimes feel a bit excluded by nature writing, then this book will make you feel included and welcomed.’ Tracey Thorn ‘A witty, touching and profound book about one man's burgeoning relationship with the natural world - and it's also a joy to read.’ Stephen Moss ‘Lev's endearing child-like joy at even the smallest of encounters is infectious.’ BBC Wildlife MagazineTrade Review'Funny, accessible and full of wonders - a genuine breath of fresh air. - Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley and The Stubborn Light of Things 'An open, warm and unique journey full of unabashed enthusiasm for the natural world. A rare thing.' - Stephen Rutt, author of The Seafarers'Lev Parikian is one of those rare beasts: a nature writer with a sense of humour. This is a witty, touching and profound book about one man's burgeoning relationship with the natural world - and it's also a joy to read.' - Stephen Moss, naturalist and author'Lev's endearing child-like joy at even the smallest of encounters is infectious - this book will have you peering more closely at the spider in your bathroom or the woodlouse in your garden, and following his advice to "Look. Look again. Look better".' - BBC Wildlife Magazine'Try Lev Parikian's witty Into the Tangled Bank. He starts with the wildlife found in your kitchen sink, and gradually deepens connections to nature within and outside your own four walls.' - Ann Pettifor, Guardian (Best Books to Inspire Hope for the Planet)'I genuinely think Into the Tangled Bank should be put on prescription for anyone suffering depression or loneliness because it is an absolute tonic of a book that creates happiness in the very soul of the reader. I adored it.' - Linda's Book Bag'If, like me, you've got more *into nature* in the last few months, but sometimes feel a bit excluded by nature writing, like you don't know enough, then this book will make you feel included and welcomed.' - Tracey Thorn

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Book Synopsis___ A year of looking, listening and noticing across four unique seasons and thirty-five beautifully illustrated poems. 'Dazzling, moving... A book that will touch many, and be given often: here, take this, you must read this.' ROBERT MACFARLANE 'So vivid... A call out to our elemental relationship with love and nature. Beautiful.' WILLEM DAFOE ___ The world changed in 2020. Gradually at first, then quickly and irreversibly, the patterns by which we once lived altered completely. The Heeding paints a picture of a year caught in the grip of history, yet filled with revelatory perspectives close at hand: a sparrowhawk hunting in a back street; the moon over a town with a loved-one's hand held tight; butterflies massing in a high-summer yard - the everyday wonders and memories that shape a life and help us recall our own. Across four seasons and thirty-five luminous poems and illustrations, Rob Cowen and Nick Hayes lead us on a journey that takes its markers and signs from nature and a world filled with fear and pain but beauty and wonder too. Collecting birds, animals, trees and people together, The Heeding is a profound meditation to a time no-one will forget. At its heart, this is a book that helps us look again, to heed: to be attentive to this world we share and this history we're living through, to be aware of how valuable and fragile we are, to grieve what's lost and to hope for a better and brighter tomorrow. ____ 'The Heeding speaks to us all, guiding us through the emotional journey the nation has gone through during the past year, with humour, pathos and forensically sharp portrayals of people and nature at a time like no other.' Stephen Moss, author of The Robin 'Poignant and exquisite' Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden 'Vivid, beating, aching. The Heeding feels like both a eulogy and a defiant, wild challenge to go on. I loved it.' Josie George, author of A Still Life 'It is rare to find a writer that is able to tease apart the threads that make up the fragile fabric of our loves, hopes and despairs with such care and humility. An exceptionally good book for an exceptionally bad time.' Matt Gaw, author of Under the Stars

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Book Synopsis___ See the British year afresh and experience a new way of connecting with nature – through the prism of Japan’s seventy-two ancient microseasons. Across seventy-two short chapters and twelve months, writer and nature lover Lev Parikian charts the changes that each of these ancient microseasons (of a just a few days each) bring to his local patch – garden, streets, park and wild cemetery. From the birth of spring (risshun) in early February to ‘the greater cold’ (daikan) in late January, Lev draws our eye to the exquisite beauty of the outside world, day-to-day. Instead of Japan’s lotus blossom, praying mantis and bear, he watches bramble, woodlouse and urban fox; hawthorn, dragonfly and peregrine. But the seasonal rhythms – and the power of nature to reflect and enhance our mood – remain. By turns reflective, witty and joyous, this is both a nature diary and a revelation of the beauty of the small and subtle changes of the everyday, allowing us to ‘look, look again, look better’. It is perfect gift to read in real time across the British year. ___ ‘A fresh new look at the microseasons of nature’s calendar, seen through Lev Parikian’s eyes – with his usual humour, attention to detail and beautifully written prose.’ Stephen Moss ‘Buy this book. Plant it somewhere handy and whenever you’re in need of a “spark of joy” pick it up and read a few pages. Its wit will make you smile. It will transport you to a wilder, gentler, more beautiful world.’ Ann Pettifor

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Book SynopsisA soaring celebration of summer and a poignant journey into the changing nature of the British season – from the award-winning author of Wintering and The Seafarers. Summer is traditionally a time of plenty, of warmth; a time to celebrate abundance. And so Stephen Rutt sets out to explore the natural world during its moment of fullest bloom. Butterflies and dragonflies add colour to his days; moths and bats lift the warm nights; swallows, nightjars and wood warblers fill the forests and skies. What Stephen notices too, however, are the many ways in which the season is becoming deranged by a changed and changing climate: the wrong birds singing at the wrong time; August days as cold as February; the creeping disturbances that we may not notice while nature still has some voice. The Eternal Season is both a celebration of summer and a warning of the unravelling of this beautiful web of abundant life. This is a book that sings with love and careful observation, with an eye on all that we might lose but also save. ***'An urgent and beautiful walk through the changing character of the British summer.' Rebecca Schiller, author of Earthed 'Elegant, vivid, thoroughly absorbing, The Eternal Season strikes the perfect balance between celebrating the natural world and sounding a realistic warning about the damage we continue to wreak on it. All in all, a treat.’ Lev Parikian, author of Into the Tangled Bank

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Book SynopsisCan a tiny vehicle provide the space to rebuild a life? Thunderstone: a sculpted & fearless memoir from the award-winning author of Fifty Words for SnowTrade Review‘A memoir of great honesty and clarity, intimacy and subtlety . . . It asks profound questions about how to live through the storms of life with authenticity.’ Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being ‘A courageous, compassionate, uncanny chronicle of life and loss on the fringes. Striking in its candour, brilliant in its breadth, often very funny.’ Dan Richards, author of Outpost

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Book Synopsis*WINNER OF THE ACKERLEY PRIZE 2023* ‘The most thoughtful and soothing book I’ve read this year.’ Daily Mail ‘There is just one object I want to carry inside the van... It was believed lightning would not strike a house that held a thunderstone. I place this fossil on the windowsill, its surface gleaming like cat’s eyes ahead of me on a dark road.’ In the wake of a traumatic lockdown, Nancy Campbell buys an old caravan and drives it into a strip of neglected woodland between a canal and railway. There is no plumbed water, no electricity point and the walls are as thin as a Kinder egg. But it is the first home she has ever owned. As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of how to live well in a place in which possessions and emotions often threaten to tumble, clearing industrial junk from the soil, forging unconventional friendships off-grid and helping the wild beauty surrounding her to flourish. But when illness and uncertainty loom once more, she has to find a way to hold on to beauty and wonder, to anchor herself in this van, this safe space, this shelter from the storm. An intimate journal across the space of a defining summer, Nancy Campbell’s memoir is celebration of the people and places that hold us when the storms gather; a soul-shaking journey that reminds us what it is to be alive. ___ ‘A beautiful and often very funny account of hope and healing in the face of illness and uncertainty.’ TLS ‘How to find beauty and wonder even in the most trying of circumstances’ The Scotsman ‘An uplifting, heart-filled read full of hope and love.’ Lulah Ellender, author of GroundingTrade Review‘Campbell’s memoir of the year she spent in that caravan is the most thoughtful and soothing book I’ve read this year’ Daily Mail ‘A beautiful and often very funny account of hope and healing in the face of illness and uncertainty’ TLS ‘This raw, honest account of semi-urban caravan life offers a valuable lesson in how to find beauty and wonder even in the most trying of circumstances […] she is wonderfully alert to every nuance of every experience, and writes with joyous precision about the summer she sees unfolding all around her.’ The Scotsman ‘Hopeful, honest and lyrically written, a memoir which celebrates resilience in precarious times.’ The Simple Things A ‘many-splendoured book, which is at once an after-love, ever-loving letter to her ex; a real-time journal to keep herself company and emotionally intact; a worked-over piece of literary art (Campbell writes beautiful prose) and a rich newcomer to the latest and most exciting department of place writing.’ Horatio Clare, The Spectator ‘The Fifty Words for Snow and The Library of Ice author digs deep into the elemental again, escaping lockdown by buying a caravan and finding hope in neglected woods’ i weekend ‘One is swept along by the subtle, elegant prose and a narrative that is rich in literary references, sometimes carried away by poetic drift, yet overriddingly a visceral, energising sense of a life live well’ Country Life ‘I’ve read Campbell’s work before – the gorgeous crystalline perfection of Fifty Words for Snow gave me tightly controlled, crisp prose delivered with scientific precision. Thunderstone is different. Campbell’s deft hand with language remains, but under the microscope now is herself, in raw and emotional detail. […] Campbell’s depiction of the canal community where her caravan resides is tender and warm’ Kate Blincoe, Resurgence & Ecologist ‘I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a writer who writes about these things as movingly, as gracefully — as beautifully — as Nancy Campbell.’ The Clearing ‘I picked this book up to have a quick browse and two hours later wondered where the time had gone. Thunderstone is an honest and moving account of the author’s journey through a series of traumas, from the onset of the pandemic — coinciding with her partner’s stroke — to dealing with her own illness. This book is an uplifiting, positive and poetic look at life in all its rawness: a celebration of change, self-discovery, and off-grid life that is, quite simply, a pleasure to read.’ The Countryman ‘I hope to thank Nancy Campbell for this book in person someday. For giving us this humbling, honest, raw & deeply moving book that reminds us what it means to be alive.’ Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Caught By the River ‘An utterly beautiful, life affirming, soul shaking, heart-breaking wonder of a book. […] This is a humbling, honest, raw and deeply moving book that reminds us what it means to be alive.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places ‘An uplifting, heart-filled read full of hope and love.’ Lulah Ellender, author of Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden ‘Thunderstone goes well beyond mere memoir. Nancy is a badass, a wild woman corralling experiences of poetry, humanity and the natural world to shape visions of new ways forward for us all.’ Matthew Teller, journalist and author of Nine Quarters Of Jerusalem ‘A courageous, compassionate, uncanny chronicle of life and loss on the fringes.’ Dan Richards, author of Outpost ‘A memoir of great honesty and clarity, intimacy and subtlety… It asks profound questions about how to live through the storms of life with authenticity.’ Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being / Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence ‘Any book by Nancy Campbell has to be worth reading.’ Dervla Murphy ‘A writer of quiet strength, clarity and empathy, with a traveller's eye for detail and the precision of a poet, Nancy Campbell is the wisest and kindest of guides through heartbreak and beyond.’ Nick Hunt, author of Outlandish: Walking Europe’s Unlikely Landscapes ‘Humbling, humorous and exquisite.’ Sarah Thomas, author of The Raven's Nest ‘If this is a story of grief and illness, loneliness and heartache, one is left with the feeling that here is a writer who knows better than most of us how to live.’ Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings ‘Nancy Campbell’s deep knowledge of art, nature and other cultures is completely transporting […] I couldn’t put it down.’ Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure For Sleep ‘Beginning with an elemental howl of grief, poet and explorer Nancy Campbell’s new book swiftly morphs into a handbook of post-disaster reconstruction, the building blocks of which are close observation, humour, and visceral engagement with the world around her.’ James Attlee, author of Under the Rainbow: Voices from Lockdown

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Book SynopsisThis Allotment brings together thirteen brilliant contemporary writers in a glorious celebration of these entirely unique spaces: plots that mean so much more than the soil upon which they sit. An allotment. A health-giving, heart-filling miniature kingdom of carrots, courgettes and callaloo. A microcosm for our societies at large as people claim their ?patch? and guard it protectively, but also of welcoming arms, gifted gluts and new recipes from overseas. They are places of blowsy dahlias, cricket on the radio and cups of tea in tumbledown sheds; they are buzzing bees and the wisdom of weeds and seeds; they are resilience, resistance and freedom with a radical history and future. All life is here is this collection of vibrant original pieces on growing, eating and nurturing. CONTRIBUTORS: Jenny Chamarette Rob Cowen Marchelle Farrell Olia Hercules David Keenan & Heather Leigh Kirsteen McNish JC Niala Graeme Rigby Rebecca Schiller Sui Searle Sara Venn Alice Vincent

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Book SynopsisEach animal on the planet owes its existence to one very simple but crucial piece of evolutionary engineering: the egg. ?It's time to tell a new story of life on Earth.

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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 *

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Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be a part of—rather than apart from—nature? This book is about how we interact with wildlife and the ways in which this can make our lives richer and more fulfilling. But it also explores the conflicts and contradictions inevitable in a world that is now so completely dominated by our own species. Interest in wildlife and wild places, and their profound effects on human wellbeing, have increased sharply as we face up to the ongoing biodiversity extinction crisis and reassess our priorities following a global pandemic. Ian Carter, lifelong naturalist and a former bird specialist at Natural England, sets out to uncover the intricacies of the relationship between humans and nature. In a direct, down-to-earth style he explains some of the key practical, ethical and philosophical problems we must navigate as we seek to reconnect with nature. This wide-ranging and infectiously personal account does not shy away from controversial subjects—such as how we handle invasive species, reintroductions, culling or dog ownership—and reveals in stark terms that properly addressing our connection to the natural world is an imperative, not a luxury. Short, pithy chapters make this book ideal for dipping into. Meanwhile, it builds into a compelling whole as the story moves from considering the wildlife close to home through to conflicts and, finally, the joy and sense of escape that can be had in the wildest corners of our landscapes, where there is still so much to discover.Trade ReviewA delightful read... Not only are the interactions with nature well told and engaging, the deeper thoughts they trigger have been honed by a lifetime’s experience. -- Dr. Mark Averylan is probably better known for his books on Red Kites, but here he tells the tale of his 25 years working for the government agencies for nature [and] living in a house next to a dyke on the fens... The book really comes alive at the end, with lan's move to Devon and his trips to Western Scotland, and I eagerly await his new book on Hen Harriers with Dan Powell. * Bird Watching's August Book of the Month *Touches upon some of the most important issues facing us all that need resolving before we assign nature to history and ourselves to oblivion! I bet once you pick this book up you will be tempted to put things on hold while you read the lot in one sitting! -- Bo Beolens * Fatbirder *If you want a slightly different perspective on our complex and complicated relationship with the natural world then this is as good a place to start as any. -- Paul Cheney * Halfman, Halfbook *… an eminently readable, thoughtful, honest and fascinating contribution to modern birding literature, which I can thoroughly and unreservedly recommend. -- Mike Everett * British Birds *A thoughtful and timely look at contemporary relationships between people and nature. -- James Robertson * British Wildlife *It’s the perfect book for dipping into and also for sitting engrossed for a couple of hours. -- Alan Williams * https://tontowilliams.com/ *A thought-provoking book…full of short discussions emanating from Ian’s vast knowledge of birds gained through his many years as an ornithologist. -- Alan Stewart * Wildlife Detective blog *This is an interesting and balanced take on the current state of play in the UK, wildlife-wise, from an author who knows it as well as anyone else...a particularly engaging and fascinating read. -- Josh Jones * Bird Guides *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction CLOSE TO HOME The island effect The late-summer lull Man’s best friend? A rat’s life Local patch wildlife Familiar species All-time favourite HUMAN NATURE Number conundrum Mario or mud pies? Splitting headaches The naming game Missing from the list A love of birds? Unwelcome wildlife The sound of silence Health-enhancing House Martins Adopt a species Wanted: dead or alive The state of nature Urban wildlife CONFLICTS Recent arrivals Rescuing wildlife The culture of killing A tale of two raptors Meddling with wildlife Moving things around WILD PLACES The pursuit of wildness Seabirds at sea Western Isles refuge A change of scene Western Isles revisited Index

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Book SynopsisIn this informed, incisive and passionate commentary on the state of nature and conservation, Mark Avery reflects on our relationship with the wildlife around us. From the cats that pass through his garden to the chronic decline of farmland wildlife, from the Pasqueflowers he visits every spring to the proportion of national income devoted to saving nature – everything is connected, and everything is considered. This book analyses what is wrong with certain ways we do wildlife conservation but explores some of its many successes too. How can we do better to restore wildlife to everybody’s lives? We know how to conserve species and habitats – it’s time to roll out conservation measures on a much bigger scale. This is a societal choice in which every nature lover can play their part. Reflections sets out what is needed, and what part the state, environmental charities and we as individuals can play in making that happen. This highly personal work from a life embedded in and dedicated to nature does not shy away from the harsh realities we face, but its message, ultimately, is one of hope.Trade Review...informative, inspiring, and optimistic, something we need right now. -- Chris Townsend OutdoorsIf the British conservation movement were a forest, Mark Avery would be one of the ancient oaks... His latest book, Reflections, now pours that experience into a mission statement for all those who claim to prize UK wildlife. From the daisies he mows around on his lawn to the spiders in his bath, Avery’s love of the creeping, crawling, soaring world is evident on every page. -- India Bourke, New Statesman*Book of the Month* If you're interested in the politics of conservation, and what it means in practical terms, then this is for you. -- John Miles, birdwatching.co.ukThis is the most insightful and accessible book we have on the current state of wildlife conservation in Britain and what we might do to improve things. -- Ian Carter, British WildlifeThis is a good book and anyone interested in wildlife conservation should buy it. I found interesting and thought-provoking comments on every page. -- David Norman * British Birds *The most insightful and accessible book we have on the current state of wildlife conservation in Britain and what we might do to improve things. -- Ian Carter * British Wildlife *Given the immense challenges facing species in a 21st-century world of biodiversity collapse and climate emergency it is hard, sometimes, to find a place of agency and grounds for optimism. To his credit, Mark Avery manages both, and much more besides. -- Karen Jones * BirdGuides *… a clear-eyed examination of the state of nature conservation in the UK today. … Read this be inspired that, if we all do our bit, we can indeed save our wildlife. * Plant Life *Table of ContentsPreface Some explanations 1 Glimpses of wildlife 2 The state of wildlife in the UK 3 What is wildlife conservation? 4 Wildlife conservation successes 5 Why are we failing so badly? 6 What wildlife needs (and how to provide it) Recapitulation Notes, references and further reading Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisBees existed long before human beings, but our future is perhaps more reliant upon them than any other species. They pollinate 80 per cent of the world’s crops and plants, but how much do we really know about them? Small, clever and mysterious, the honeybee in particular has long been celebrated in human culture as a sacred insect, a symbol of the sun, bridging the gap between our world and the next. They are expert communicators, skilled aviators and natural alchemists, turning fresh nectar into sweet, golden honey. They are also in trouble and need our help. This beautifully illustrated guide explores the honeybee’s historic relationship with humans, the basics of beekeeping, and how we can help save the bees' dwindling population.Table of ContentsIntroduction The Honeybee and its Colony The First Beekeepers The Evolution of Beekeeping Beekeeping Heritage Bees and the Environment Honeybee Produce Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisThe definitive analysis of one of UK''s most beloved nature spots, written by an expert with 50 years'' experience in the field and a long-standing connection with the island. Hundreds of stunning colour photographs throughout. Forewords by Iolo Williams and Professor Chris Perrins, FRS.

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Book Synopsis'Warmly entertaining...an endearing account of the search for rare bees' GuardianA hunt for the world's most elusive bees leads Dave Goulson from Poland to Patagonia as well as closer to home, amongst the secret places hidden right under our noses: the abandoned industrial estates where great crested newts roam; or the rewilded estate at Knepp Castle, where, with the aid of some hairy, bluebell-eating Tamworth pigs, nightingale song has been heard for the first time in generations. Whether he is tracking great yellow bumblebees in the Hebrides or chasing orchid bees through the Ecuadorian jungle, Dave Goulson's wit, humour and deep love of nature make him the ideal travelling companion.Trade ReviewYou’ll learn all sorts of interesting things without effort because he’s a natural storyteller with a particular gift of understatement that is often laugh-out-loud funny – which you don’t expect from a bee book… It’s warmly personal, and stuffed full of the inescapable poetry and beauty of the natural world… Going on Bee Quest with him puts the natural world within our reach – to enjoy but also to protect… This is a truly positive and empowering read – you closed it better informed, filled with poetry, pies and ready to get out there and make a difference. -- Laline Paull * Observer *This is a quest that takes us from Patagonia to Poland, from Ecuador to Essex, fueled by Dave Goulson’s extraordinary passion for the bumblebee… Goulson’s search for some of the world’s rarest bees has led him on a geographical and intellectual exploration that combines bizarre facts about bumblebees…with passionate ideas about conservation. -- Martha Kearney * The Times *Dave Goulson… has perfected the art of turning the entomologist’s technical expertise into easy-reading everyman’s prose. He also laces his stories with rich helpings of wit and humour. -- Mark Cocker * Spectator *In this delightful book [Goulson] tells us of the discoveries he has made during his ‘bee travels’… a humorous, beautifully written tribute to these insects, and hope-filled examples of nature’s resilience. * Outdoor Photography *Entomologist Dave Goulson journeyed as far as Patagonia to track down populations of the world’s rarest bumblebees. The result is this fun serial travelogue and ode to diverse countryside… In a world skewed towards saving photogenic mammals, Goulson extols the intrinsic importance of insects, rather than their economic value. -- Barbara Kiser * Nature *

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the invisible connections sustaining the entire natural world from the bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees Did you know that trees can influence the rotation of the earth?Or that wolves can alter the course of a river?Or that earthworms control wild boar populations?The natural world is a web of intricate connections, many of which go unnoticed by humans. But it is these connections that maintain nature’s finely balanced equilibrium.Drawing on the latest scientific discoveries and decades of experience as a forester, Peter Wohlleben shows us how different animals, plants, rivers, rocks and weather systems cooperate, and what's at stake when these delicate systems are unbalanced. ‘Peter Wohlleben doesn't merely look, he sees. Let's all learn as much from him as we can, and quickly’ Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of CowsTrade ReviewPeter Wohlleben doesn't merely look, he sees. Let's all learn as much from him as we can, and quickly. -- Rosamund Young, author of THE SECRET LIFE OF COWSFascinating… Wohlleben is right to remind us that everything is joined up -- Julian Glover * Evening Standard *A fascinating read * BBC Wildlife *Praise for The Hidden Life of Trees: ‘Marvellous’ -- John Banville * Irish Times *Praise for The Inner Life of Animals: 'Always fascinating… Wry, avuncular, careful and kind' -- Richard Kerridge * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWhether you're buying a pedigree puppy or rescuing a crossbreed, in this updated edition of Complete Puppy & Dog Care, practising vet Dr Bruce Fogle tells you all you need to know to keep your dog happy. From which breed to choose, to tips for helping your dog bond with the family, as well as health advice and information on nutrition, training and playing, this book has everything you need to know.In Complete Puppy & Dog Care, Dr Bruce Fogle shares the benefit of his 40 years' clinical expertise. Find out how to make the most of your relationship with your dog and look after its health and wellbeing. Choose from the best breeds for a wide range of lifestyles from apartment dweller to allergy sufferer. Assess your dog's personality and ensure a stress-free homecoming for all the family. Solve all familiar and less common problems from dog training, to feeding, exercise, aggression and fearfulness. There is even advice on the latest technology such as DNA testing for genetic predisposition to illness, along with advice on all the newest diets that are becoming popular (including raw and organic), and fully updated lists of contact details for trainers and professional organisations.Packed with information, Complete Puppy & Dog Care is an essential guide for any dog owner.

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Book SynopsisA new collection of award-winning journalist and author Brian Jackman's nature and travel writings from the past 40 years. This is a nationwide celebration of Britain's unspoiled coast and countryside, concentrating in particular on Britain's wildlife and the wild places in which its most spectacular species are found, but also touching on fishing, sailing and the way Britain's history has shaped the landscape. 'Wild about Britain is not a guidebook' says Brian Jackman. 'It's an extended love letter to the British countryside; a personal view covering more than four decades of travels in the wilder parts of Britain.' Complementing Brian Jackman's writing are a small number of illustrations from Jonathan Truss, one of the UK's leading wildlife artists who has twice won the Frozen Planet category of the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year competition. What makes the British countryside so special is its chameleon quality - the way its character changes with every few miles. Sometimes it can change dramatically; elsewhere the landscape undergoes more subtle shifts; but every region has its own distinctive qualities and is possessed of its own special magic. Brian Jackman writes eloquently and evocatively, conjuring up the sights and sounds of everything from barnacle geese on the salt marsh of an Islay loch to star gazing on Exmoor, of a seascape of headlands, cliffs and wave-smashed rocks at Lands End, of eagles on the Ardnamurchan peninsula and the autumn rut in the New Forest. Ancient oaks, red kites, huge mirror carp, the oldest path in Britain and Border reivers are all included. As a pioneer of eco-tourism, Brian Jackman has been writing on these subjects for 40 years, first as a travel writer for The Sunday Times and currently for The Daily Telegraph. Although more widely known for his knowledge of African wildlife and safaris - he is the author of The Marsh Lions and Savannah Diaries - it is his love of the British countryside that has brought him most of his awards. From Cornwall to Hermaness and from East Anglia to the Welsh Marches, Wild About Britain showcases Jackman's writing at its best. Winner of the British Guild of Travel Writers Best Narrative Travel Book 2018.Trade ReviewPicked by Stephen Moss for The Guardian's best nature books of 2017 list. " Wild About Britain by veteran travel writer Brian Jackman (Bradt) will come as a pleasant surprise to those who know the author only for his matchless prose on African wildlife." Stephen Moss "Brian Jackman's descriptions of landscape and atmosphere transport you into marvellous places." BBC Wildlife MagazineTable of ContentsContents Foreword by Simon Barnes Introduction: A Passion for Nature HOME GROUND My Dorset A Carp Called Harry Pebbles as Big as Skulls The Farm that Time Forgot Waiting for a Bite The Leys of the Land Staying Ahead of the Pack A Forest Fit for Merlin SOUTH Looking for Laurie under a Cotswold Sky In Search of King Alfred Between the Woods and the Water Mayfly The Secret Life of the Fox WEST AND WALES Tarka Territory Sand as Soft as Talc Where the Land Runs Out A Passion for Peregrines Stargazing in Stag Country The Exe Factor Lost in Scrumpy Land Red Kite Country The Island of the Tides Slow Train to Yesterday Lullaby in Roseland Lord of the Flies Dartmoor's Dark Age Undercroft Cul-de-Sac Country All I Ask Is a Tall Ship EAST The Old Man of Brundon Arthur Ransome's Secret Tideways Holding Back the Deluge Life in the Eye of a Lazy Wind A Winter's Tale An Owl for Autumn NORTH Land of the Steel Bonnets Dales in Crisis When the River Rises Singing in the Rain SCOTLAND Islands of the Simmer Dim Highland Summer Rum's the Word Dodging the Bonxies Wings Over Scotland Where Eagles Fly Stormy Seas and Safe Havens Hefted to the Hills Listening for the Hounds of Heaven Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisRecovering from surgery, Paul Clements and his wife, Felicity, spent a year in a remote cottage in the woodlands of Montalto Estate, Co. Down. Through the lens of a curious observer and a budding bird watcher, Clements describes in exquisite detail his discovery of the restorative power of nature. Beautifully written, A Year in the Woods is a fusion of social and cultural history, nature writing and memoir. Reflecting back on this magical year spent in the woods through the journal he kept, Clements describes his awakening to the wonder of the woodland and developing his deep connection to nature.Peppered with fascinating folklore and history, Clements celebrates the changing seasons, from harsh winter storms to dry languid summer evenings. Clements is a gifted writer, but it is his detailed and often humorous descriptions of the complexities of nature at his doorstep from the foibles and idiosyncrasies of various fauna, to his awe of nature? s resilience to ever-changing weather conditions that ultimately captivates the reader.

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Book SynopsisJourneying along London's waterways on a canal boat called Pike, Helen Babbs puts down roots for two weeks at a time before moving on. From Walthamstow Marsh in the east to Uxbridge in the west, she explores the landscape in all its guises: marshland, wasteland, city centre and suburb.From deep winter to late autumn, Babbs explores the people, politics, history and wildlife of the canals and rivers, to reveal an intimate and unusual portrait of London - and of life.Trade ReviewAdrift is an engaging introduction to living on a narrow boat, held together with atmospheric descriptions of reconnecting with life's simple pleasures ... It is at its best when capturing the transition from a life on land to a life on board, as well as mapping the evolving relationship between urban building developments and the canal's ecology. -- Times Literary SupplementBabbs is an excellent nature writer, evoking the lives and emotions tied to the water. Charming -- Steven Cooper * Waterstones Events Manager, The Bookseller *A compelling exploration of river living * Homes and Gardens *One of the best waterways books for decades * Waterways World *A treat ... Babbs's effortless prose is tight and lyrical, moseying along at a calm, steady pace, but there are moments both barbed and cutting ... A serious and fascinating book * Hackney Citizen *Chapter after chapter of utterly captivating prose * Caught by the River *Waterways writing at its finest: the breathtaking, boat-eulogising Adrift. -- @TheBookBarge

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Book Synopsis'Ghost towns, corporate cruelty, the centuries-old relationship between humans and a species almost magical in its abilities ... fabulous.' The New York Times'Eye-opening' Geographical 'A beautifully written book on diamond smuggling, the universe, life and much of what lies in between.' Toby Muse, author of Kilo: Life and Death Inside the Secret World of the Cocaine CartelsFor nearly 80 years, a huge portion of coastal South Africa was closed off to the public. With many of its pits now deemed "overmined" and abandoned, journalist and author Matthew Gavin Frank set out across the infamous Diamond Coast to investigate an illicit trade - the smuggling of diamonds by carrier pigeon - that supplies a global market.Uncovering a long overlooked truecrime story dating back to the founding of the De Beers corporation, and blending elements of reportage, memoir and legend, he weaves interviews with local diamond divers, who extract mineral wealth from the seabed by day and raise pigeons in secret by night, with harrowing anecdotes from former heads of security, environmental managers, and vigilante pigeon hunters.A rare and remarkable portrait of exploitation and greed, Flight of the Diamond Smugglers reveals how these feathered bandits became outlaws in every mining town.Trade ReviewGhost towns, corporate cruelty, the centuries-old relationship between humans and a species almost magical in its abilities ... fabulous. * The New York Times *An eye-opening account and one that's likely to make you reassess the role of diamonds in society today. * Geographical Magazine *Unforgettable. ... An outstanding adventure in its lyrical, utterly compelling, and heartbreaking investigations of the world of diamond smuggling. -- Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of Oceanic and World of WondersA fascinating read...a perfect combination of memoir and investigative reporting...a page-turning tale of suspense.... Frank's reporting on mineworkers, their pigeons, the towns, communities, and the people that have struggled in the wake of mine closures makes for compelling reading. * The South African *A beautifully written book on diamond smuggling, the universe, life and much of what lies in between. -- Toby Muse, author of Kilo: Life and Death Inside the Secret World of the Cocaine CartelsA lyrical portrait of a resilient species caught in the grinding gears of a cruel industry of extraction and exploitation. -- Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of The Feather Thief

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Book Synopsis'Generous, moving and alive. A gift' - Tim Dee, author of Greenery'Intelligent, thought-provoking and always, always interesting' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment'Smyth writes with warmth and engaging perception about our relationship and understanding of the natural world on our doorsteps' - Jon Dunn, author of The Glitter in the Green'Fresh and tender and playful' - Patrick Galbraith, author of In Search of One Last SongWeren't they richer, rock pools, wasn't the seashore busier, when I was a kid?Richard Smyth had always been drawn to the natural world, but when he became a father he found a new joy and a new urgency in showing his kids the everyday wild things around them. As he and his children explore rockpools in Whitley Bay, or the woods and moors near his Yorkshire home, he imagines the world they might inhabit as they grow up. Through different objects discovered on their wanderings - a beech leaf, a jay feather, a limpetshell - Smyth examines his own past as well as that of the early natural historians, weaving together history, memoir, and environmentalism to form a new kind of nature writing: one that asks both what we have lost, and what we have yet to find.Trade ReviewAll children are born naturalists and wedded to the living world. One of the tragedies of modern human life is that adulthood demands that we forget or suppress or deny this first love. By watching human nature: seeing his children become themselves, reporting on curious naturalists of old, reflecting on his own evolution as a nature-lover, Richard Smyth has been able to take steps towards rewilding himself and doing so he offers us all the chance to recover our inner animal selves. This is a touching book in all senses of the word, it is his tenderest book yet, and his truest. Generous, moving and alive. A gift. -- Tim Dee, author of GREENERYIntelligent, thought-provoking and always, always interesting. Children are full of wonder but they are also full of questions, forcing us to look afresh at the world around us. What I love about Richard Smyth's writing is his willingness to engage with moral grey areas - the uncomfortable and the unexpected. He also makes me laugh. Dark and light: that's what I want from a book -- Cal Flyn, author of ISLANDS OF ABANDONMENTA searching study of the nature of curiosity, and the curiosity of nature, Smyth writes with warmth and engaging perception about our relationship and understanding of the natural world on our doorsteps -- Jon Dunn, author of THE GLITTER IN THE GREENFresh and tender and playful. In truth, a book about sharing the wonders of nature with your kids could be the ickiest thing going, but it isn't that at all. It's about society and love and identity but it's also a raw exploration of the way that children experience the world and the way that those experiences challenge adult self-delusion. Nature writing can be earnest and handwringing but this book isn't: I laughed and laughed. I imagine it wasn't Smyth's intention to write a call to breed but it's hard to read The Jay, the Beech and the Limpetshell without thinking that really we should all have some children, to avoid missing out on the joy of showing them finches in the park -- Patrick Galbraith, author of IN SEARCH OF ONE LAST SONGA delightfully irreverent, charming and hilarious guide on how to engage young children with nature, written with a real understanding of the way they experience the world -- Stephen Moss, author of TEN BIRDS THAT CHANGED THE WORLDRichard Smyth mixes up a rollicking and compulsively readable cocktail of memoir, environmental history, and tips for the nature-minded parent. Irreverent and earnest in perfect measure, The Jay, The Beech and the Limpetshell is, at heart, an ode to wonder -- Thor Hanson, author of BUZZ and HURRICANE LIZARDS AND PLASTIC SQUIDThe Jay, The Beech and the Limpetshell is a marvellous book, in that it is full of marvels. Richard's prose is one such marvel: fast-paced, musical, and frequently very funny. So too his erudition and seemingly effortless range of reference. Most marvellous of all, though, is his loving, achingly honest commitment to bequeathing his children a world at which to marvel -- Nick Acheson, author of THE MEANING OF GEESEDazzling and moving. -- The Times Literary Supplement

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Book Synopsis'Ghost towns, corporate cruelty, the centuries-old relationship between humans and a species almost magical in its abilities ... fabulous.' The New York Times'Eye-opening' Geographical 'A beautifully written book on diamond smuggling, the universe, life and much of what lies in between.' Toby Muse, author of Kilo: Life and Death Inside the Secret World of the Cocaine CartelsFor nearly 80 years, a huge portion of coastal South Africa was closed off to the public. With many of its pits now deemed "overmined" and abandoned, journalist and author Matthew Gavin Frank set out across the infamous Diamond Coast to investigate an illicit trade - the smuggling of diamonds by carrier pigeon - that supplies a global market.Uncovering a long overlooked truecrime story dating back to the founding of the De Beers corporation, and blending elements of reportage, memoir and legend, he weaves interviews with local diamond divers, who extract mineral wealth from the seabed by day and raise pigeons in secret by night, with harrowing anecdotes from former heads of security, environmental managers, and vigilante pigeon hunters.A rare and remarkable portrait of exploitation and greed, Flight of the Diamond Smugglers reveals how these feathered bandits became outlaws in every mining town.Trade ReviewGhost towns, corporate cruelty, the centuries-old relationship between humans and a species almost magical in its abilities ... fabulous. * The New York Times *An eye-opening account and one that's likely to make you reassess the role of diamonds in society today. * Geographical Magazine *Unforgettable. ... An outstanding adventure in its lyrical, utterly compelling, and heartbreaking investigations of the world of diamond smuggling. -- Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of Oceanic and World of WondersA fascinating read...a perfect combination of memoir and investigative reporting...a page-turning tale of suspense.... Frank's reporting on mineworkers, their pigeons, the towns, communities, and the people that have struggled in the wake of mine closures makes for compelling reading. * The South African *A beautifully written book on diamond smuggling, the universe, life and much of what lies in between. -- Toby Muse, author of Kilo: Life and Death Inside the Secret World of the Cocaine CartelsA lyrical portrait of a resilient species caught in the grinding gears of a cruel industry of extraction and exploitation. -- Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of The Feather Thief

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Book SynopsisA stag leaps on an ancient brooch. A doe and a fawn step across a field at first light. A pair of antlers is silhouetted by the side of a busy road. From the earliest cave paintings to the present day, humans and deer have a long and complex history. Royal harts were the coveted quarry of European kings, while the first Americans relied on deer for everything from buckskins to arrow heads. Once hunted to the point of extinction in some parts of the world, deer numbers have exploded in recent years, causing tension between scientists and conservationists. And yet, this is our own story, as the fortune of deer is inextricably bound up with the actions that we humans take on the world around us. Weaving together history and reportage, in The Age of Deer Erika Howsare deftly explores the relationship between our two species in the line where wildness meets humankind. It is a reminder of the poetry and violence of the natural world, from an exciting new voice in nature writing. AUTHOR: Erika Howsare is a writer, journalist and teacher. Her essays, reviews and interviews have appeared in publications such as the Los Angeles Review of Books and The Rumpus, and she is the author of two collections of poetry, How is Travel a Folded Form? and FILL: A Collection (with Kate Schapira). She lives in the Blue Ridge in central Virginia.Trade ReviewA poignant meditation on humanity's relationship with deer . . . [Howsare's] lyrical musings cast her subject in a new light . . . Readers will be enthralled. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A fascinating exploration of deer . . . Outstanding natural history writing. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *Extraordinary and absorbing, The Age of Deer proves John Muir's notion that when we pick out one thing in the universe we find it hitched to everything else. Howsare understands that we live in an age of numbness when 'few of us are willing to really feel,' and suggests, through the lives of deer and her experience with them, an elemental antidote. * David Gessner, author of Return of the Osprey and All the Wild That Remains *By paying close attention to an animal often seen but rarely observed, Howsare reveals that deer are far more mysterious and complicated-and far more deeply embedded in our lives and collective histories-than they may seem. The Age of Deer is a wonderfully perceptive, absorbing, and rewarding exploration of life in all its interconnected forms. * Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction *Erika Howsare has written a fascinating and brilliantly researched book on deer. She has an ear for the conundrums and contradictions of our entanglements with these creatures, who increasingly occupy a middle ground between wild and domestic, survivors of our species' worst predations. * Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of A Woven World *A warm, engaging, and thoughtful look at what matters to deer and what they mean to us. Howsare is fascinated by the paradoxical status of an animal we all think we know: Not tame, but not quite wild either; fetishized by some, resented by others; all too common, and yet impossible to ignore. I highly recommend it! * Nate Blakslee, author of American Wolf *In her lyrical and revelatory The Age of Deer, Erika Howsare crafts the definitive account of humanity's longstanding dependence on the lovely creatures, their prominent place in myth and legend, and our modern failures to live peaceably alongside them. A cautionary (but often beautiful) tale of good intentions gone awry. * Earl Swift, author of Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings *The Age of Deer joins a growing canon of fresh treatments of wild creatures that are anciently enmeshed in the human story. And as Howsare reminds us in her warm, relaxed style, we will always have such a relationship with deer. The next one you see is going to intrigue you in a whole new way. * Dan Flores, New York Times bestselling author of Coyote America and Wild New World *I carried The Age of Deer in my pack for a few days through a canyon in Colorado, and it was a great complement to the lopsided slopes of fallen trees and the sound of roaring water. The deer is due its storyteller and Howsare takes the role with smartness and grace. * Craig Childs, author of Tracing Time, House of Rain, and The Secret Knowledge of Water *An unflinching look at a wild and mysterious creature that has run through our physical lives and imaginations since the Palaeolithic era and now faces us with the complexity and brutality of the Anthropocene. Erika Howsare's The Age of Deer is a compelling inquiry into the violence and beauty of a relationship that asks as many questions as it provides insights: about control, about desire, about what it means to be alive, and whether it is possible to re-forge an ancestral kinship with the more-than-human world in a time of ecological collapse. * Charlotte Du Cann, co-director of The Dark Mountain Project *This is a diligently researched and engaging mixture of mythology, history, and modern culture, blended seamlessly by personal observation and deft reporting. The end result is some highly accomplished natural history writing. It is erudite, absorbing and very readable with regular and stunning flashes of insight and lyricism * Charles Smith-Jones, author of A Guide to the Deer of the World *A timely and passionate book that places deer, philosophically as well as actually, much nearer humanity than we might have once thought. And a brave ending around what it means for a non-hunter to hunt. * Roger Morgan-Grenville *A brilliant exploration of the complex ties between humans and deer. I have hoped for an equally insightful book about our fraught relationship with this familiar neighbor. The Age of Deer is that book - and it is a masterpiece * Washington Post *The book is not a collection of deer facts so much as a many-stranded conversation ... a splendid document of intellectual and emotional growth * LA Times *It is an absolute delight. There's not a page on which the reader will not learn something * Boston Globe *Howsare is a fine writer * John Lewis-Stempel *The Age of Deer is a fascinating history of our relationship with, and dependency on, deer. Erika Howsare explains her revelatory and encyclopaedic research of a complex subject with great warmth and in a lyrical and eminently readable style. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a love of natural history and an interest in wildlife conservation. * Johnny Scott, author of A Book of Britain: The Lore, Landscape and Heritage of a Treasured Countryside *

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Book SynopsisJust when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... When you dive into the sea, do you ever wonder what's down there, beneath you, poised to take an inquisitive bite? Author of Jaws Peter Benchley and film director Steven Spielberg certainly did, for below the waves lies a world we neither see nor understand; an alien world where we are but the briefest of visitors. The Shark that Walks on Land uncovers tales of ancient and modern mariners, with stories of sea serpents, mermaids and mermen, sea dragons, and the true identity of the legendary kraken. But this book contains more than just a medley of maritime myths and mysteries for marine biologists; it celebrates wonderful discoveries by blending the unknown and the familiar in an entertaining miscellany of facts, figures and anecdotes about the myriad creatures that inhabit the oceans. Along the way we meet the giants, the most dangerous, the oddballs and the record breakers - and the shark that really does walk on land!

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Book SynopsisWill Millard is a writer, BBC presenter, and expedition leader. Born and brought up in the Fens, he is the BAFTA Cymru winning presenter of the BBC Two series 'Hunters of the South Seas' and 'My Year With The Tribe'. His first book, the critically acclaimed The Old Man and the Sand Eel, was published in 2018 and follows his wild journey across Britain in pursuit of a fishing record.

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Book Synopsis'Late Light brings the refreshing perspective of someone who goes from seeing England as a foreign place to someone who deeply studies its secret wonders. An astonishing read.' - Amy Liptrot, The OutrunThis is a book about falling in love with vanishing thingsLate Light is the story of Michael Malay's own journey, an Indonesian Australian making a home for himself in England and finding strange parallels between his life and the lives of the animals he examines. Mixing natural history with memoir, this book explores the mystery of our animal neighbours, in all their richness and variety. It is about the wonder these animals inspired in our ancestors, the hope they inspire in us, and the joy they might still hold for our children.Late Light is about migration, belonging and extinction. Through the close examination of four particular 'unloved' animals - eels, moths, crickets and mussels - Michael Malay tells the story of the economic, political and cultural events that have shaped the modern landscape of Britain.For readers of Robert Macfarlane, Raynor Winn and Helen Macdonald, Late Light is a rich blend of memoir, natural history, nature writing, and a meditation on being and belonging, from a vibrant new voice.'Late Light is a book that glows with warmth in spite of its dark subtext. Malay's prose is gorgeous and astute; he looks with fresh eyes at unpopular species and finds poetry and meaning. His voice is irresistible - Late Light is a powerful new work of nature writing. ' - Sara Baume, Seven Steeples'Late Light is a book of little revelations. It approaches small things with a quiet and tender profundity, and its attentiveness to the quivering of life will leave you aching with world-love.' - Abi Andrews, The Word for Woman is WildernessTrade Review'Late Light brings the refreshing perspective of someone who goes from seeing England as a foreign place to someone who deeply studies its secret wonders. An astonishing read.' -- Amy Liptrot, author of THE OUTRUN'Late Light is a book that glows with warmth in spite of its dark subtext. Malay's prose is gorgeous and astute; he looks with fresh eyes at unpopular species and finds poetry and meaning. His voice is irresistible - Late Light is a powerful new work of nature writing.' -- Sara Baume, author of SEVEN STEEPLESIn underscoring the concept of basic dignity as being the right of all species and illuminating the idea of an expansive, planetary politics, Malay offers a bright, fierce hope for the future. -- Neil Hegarty * Irish Times *'Malay writes prose of gorgeous balance, shifting between the patience of his observations of nature and a controlled examination of the politics and histories that affect landscapes. His voice is fresh, passionate, and beautifully attuned to the layers of enchantment and melancholy that emerge from the living world in today's challenging times.' -- Melanie Challenger, author of ON EXTINCTION'Late Light is a book of little revelations. It approaches small things with a quiet and tender profundity, and its attentiveness to the quivering of life will leave you aching with world-love.' -- Abi Andrews, author of THE WORD FOR WOMAN IS WILDERNESS'Late Light is simply mesmerising. Michael Malay makes the unseen details of our world vibrant and insistent. This is a book that will re-enchant you with the parts of nature we've too-long forgotten - and a writer we urgently need to guide us.' -- Jessica J. Lee, author of TWO TREES MAKE A FOREST'Most nature books claim to make the world feel bigger and more precious, but Late Light really does. It's a tender, marvellous book. Through his journeys to understand the lives of four "unloved" animals, Michael Malay pays a debt of deep respect to the Earth and its interconnectedness. It is also a kind of travel book, making me see the familiar landscapes of the place I call home (England and specifically Bristol) with a sparkling newness. This book has given me new eyes, and I was sad when it ended. Nature writing -- and the world as a whole -- feels fresher.' -- Nick Hunt, author of OUTLANDISH'Beautiful in its clarity of thought and emotion, for some it could be life changing.' -- Jeremy Irons

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2018John Lister-Kaye has spent a lifetime exploring, protecting and celebrating the British landscape and its wildlife. Lister-Kaye's joyous childhood holidays - spent scrambling through hedges and ditches after birds and small beasts, keeping pigeons in the loft and tracking foxes around the edge of the garden - were the perfect apprenticeship for his two lifelong passions: exploring the wonders of nature, and writing about them. Warm, wise and full of wonder, The Dun Cow Rib is a captivating coming of age tale by one of the founding fathers of nature writing.Trade ReviewUtterly charming and captivating * * The Sunday Times * *John Lister-Kaye is Scotland's high priest of nature writing; it's charming and moving to wander along with him . . . The Dun Cow Rib is a loving book * * The Times * *I should love to pay a visit to and shake this fine author by the hand * * Mail on Sunday * *A wise and affectionate celebration of Britain's natural landscape * * The Week * *Excellent * * The Scotsman * *In this moving autobiography by Scotland's foremost wildlife writer . . . it's when describing the lost countryside of his earliest years that he's without equal * * Country Life * *Escape into the joyous childhood of John Lister-Kaye * * Daily Express * *Lister-Kaye sometimes writes like the long-lost sixth member of the Famous Five * * Herald * *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATIONA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES, WATERSTONES AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE A NEX BIG IDEA CLUB MUST READIn a Polish forest a young woman befriends a boar. An Englishman sets up home with two beavers in Saskatchewan. A zoologist watches a fish make a conscious decision. Darwin finds the evidence for evolution in the backyards of pigeon fanciers. The entire population of Croatia anxiously awaits the arrival of a single stork. Animals have shaped our lives, our land, our civilisation, and they will shape our future. Yet as our impact on the world and the animals we share it with increases, there has never been a greater urgency to understand this foundational relationship. Beastly is the 40,000-year story of animals and humans as it has never been captured before, seen eye-to-eye and claw-to-hand through those humans who have stepped into the myriad worlds of our animal relatives. Our relationship with animals has always been paradoxical, but the greatest paradox may yet be this: diversity of life can heal ecosystems. Animals - if given the chance - could save us.Trade ReviewA dazzling examination of our contradictory attitudes towards the creatures with whom we share the planet . . . [A] fantastic, heartfelt history of human-animal relations * * Guardian * *[A] heartfelt account of the environmental catastrophe . . . Beastly is a clarion call for the humbler notion that every bit of nature matters * * Observer * *A positive, information-packed read about reconnecting with our wild world * * Independent * *If you are interested in the animal kingdom; if you are interested in the past, present and future of planet Earth; if you are interested in anything at all - then this gorgeous, joyous, sobering book is for you * * Irish Times * *Reading Beastly is a little like padding, barefoot, through a forest . . . Heartfelt * * New Statesman * *What a wonderful and unexpected book. The very opposite of beastly: heavenly and amazing, powerful and affecting, a beloved and very fine teller of tales reminds us how small we are in the face of a nature that we neither understand nor wish to respect or, in any real sense, live with -- PHILIPPE SANDSI fervently believe everyone should read it . . . From start to finish, it's fabulous -- JAMES HOLLANDA brilliant and insightful selection of revealing stories about our complicated relationship with other animals, told with Carew's uniquely smart and stylish verve. A hugely enjoyable, thought-provoking book -- GAIA VINCEMany stories linger after reading Beastly: a polyphony in which tale after tale accumulates . . . The book is exhilaratingly busy with ideas . . . A cunningly structured book * * Perspective * *Full of necessary rage, joy and passion: BEASTLY should be mandatory reading for all humans -- CLAIRE FULLER

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Book SynopsisThe Sea Around Us is one of the most influential books ever written about the natural world. In it Rachel Carson tells the history of our oceans, combining scientific insight and poetic prose as only she can, to take us from the creation of the oceans, through their role in shaping life on Earth, to what the future holds. It was prophetic at the time it was written, alerting the world to a crisis in the climate, and it speaks to the fragility and centrality of the oceans and the life that abounds within them.Trade ReviewThis combination of science and scintillating prose provides fascinating insights into the mysteries of the tides . . . a masterpiece of ecological writing * * Guardian * *The timely reissue of a classic maritime trilogy shows that the "poet of the oceans" was far ahead of her time . . . [The Sea Around Us was] a powerful account of what was then known about the sea; a work that shifted with elegant ease between muscular and enlightening science writing and poetic nature writing . . . What's striking is that Carson is a keen observer of the interconnectedness of things . . . Her sea series is not only fascinating for those with an interest in the prehistory of Silent Spring. There is much to marvel at in these pages * * Herald * *Carson's books brought ecology into popular consciousness * * Daily Telegraph * *[Carson] is the poet laureate of the sea, but also of that "web of life", in which everything is connected to everything else * * London Review of Books * *Praise for the Sea trilogy: Rereading her natural histories, what stands out is how beautiful the writing is. Carson combined a scientist's ability to see with a novelist's ability to imagine * * New Yorker * *Praise for Silent Spring: Brilliantly written: clear, controlled and authoritative . . . one of the most effective books ever written . . . the impact is, in all senses, stunning * * Guardian * *Much of what Carson wrote to great controversy is now conventional wisdom. To read Silent Spring now is in part to understand how we got to where we are * * Wall Street Journal * *

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Book Synopsis'When I was a child in Scotland, I was fond of everything that was wild, and all my life I've been growing fonder and fonder of wild places and wild creatures.'John Muir was eleven when he and his family left Scotland in 1849 to build a new life on a homestead in the vast wilderness of Wisconsin. Written in simple yet beautiful prose, we see Muir's delight as he discovers and observes the landscape and wildlife around him, as he recalls his childhood and reveals himself as a master of natural description.Trade ReviewHis books are illuminated by sunshine and starlight . . . No other writer is so ceaselessly astonished by the natural world as Muir, or communicates that astonishment more urgently -- ROBERT MACFARLANEAn inspirational figure for modern environmentalism . . . his enthusiasm and heart-felt love of nature is immensely impressive * * Guardian * *Muir was a geologist, an explorer, philosopher, artist, author, and editor, and to each of his avocations he devoted that deep insight and conscientious devotion which made him its master * * New York Times * *The great mountain man . . . [John Muir] remains a towering presence in American cultural life, and is internationally acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of modern conservation -- MARK COCKER, author of OUR PLACEA superbly told, moving and challenging story. For anybody remotely interested in the environment, Scottish culture, American history, the art of biography or the art of life, this book is essential * * Scotland on Sunday * *The richness of Muir's writing roots deeper into the terrain than any other wilderness writer known to me * * Los Angeles Times on MY FIRST SUMMER IN THE SIERRA * *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING - HIGHLY COMMENDED'Remarkable' Robert Macfarlane'Beautiful' Amy Liptrot'Powerful, unflinching . . . Part hymn to nature, part Troubles memoir' GuardianKerri ní Dochartaigh was born in Derry at the very height of the Troubles. One parent was Catholic, the other Protestant. In the space of a year Kerri's family were forced out of two homes and when she was eleven a homemade petrol bomb was thrown through her bedroom window. For families like hers, terror was in the very fabric of the city.In Thin Places, Kerri explores how nature kept her sane and helped her heal, and how we are again allowing our borders to become hard and terror to creep back in. Kerri asks us to reclaim and rejoice in our landscape, and to remember that the land we fight over is much more than lines on a map.Trade ReviewA remarkable piece of writing. I don't think I've ever read a book as open-hearted as this. It resists easy pieties of nature as a healing force, but nevertheless charts a recovery which could never have been achieved without landscape, wild creatures and "thin places". It is also flocked with luminous details (moths, birds, feathers, skulls, moving water). Kerri's voice is utterly her own, rich and strange. I've folded down the corners of many pages, marking sentences and moments that glitter out at me. Wow -- ROBERT MACFARLANEDochartaigh takes great solace in nature, and much of the book is a meditation on the beautiful landscapes and flora and fauna that surround her . . . Passionate, moving and beautifully written, this is a remarkable account of trauma and ways to acknowledge and overcome it * * Sunday Times * *What was Kerri ní Dochartaigh's burden as a child - to exist in "the gaps between" the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland - has become her gift as a writer. She is sensitive to the legacies of loss and trauma and highly attuned to the gifts of the natural world and the possibilities of place. This is a special, beautiful, many-faceted book -- AMY LIPTROTPowerful, unflinching . . . Part hymn to nature, part Troubles memoir . . . Vividly descriptive . . . Thin Places is at heart a survivor's story located in the real and brutally Darwinian world of lived experience * * Guardian, Book of the Day * *Fabulous . . . Piercingly honest, movingly heartfelt. There is so much soul and knowledge and compassion, it gave me shivers -- ELIF SHAFAK * * Guardian, Best Books of the Year * *An eloquent, moving work of politics, geography and the self. Full of wisdom and deeply engaging -- SINÉAD GLEESONThe power of place to heal trauma makes for a beautiful read . . . It contains moments of great beauty . . . It is heady, bright and difficult to pin down. It is also redemptive. The Irish word for hope, we are told, is dòchas or dòigh, which holds, within its roots, glimmers of dóighiúil, the word for giving. Ní Dochartaigh takes that hope and gives it to us all * * Big Issue * *A beautiful and harrowing book about trauma, the potential to heal and the subtle magic of the wild. Kerri ní Dochartaigh offers us a fragile kind of redemption, full of truth and solace -- KATHERINE MAYNí Dochartaigh's delight in wild things weaves a thread of light through her childhood, adulthood and the book itself . . . Acutely personal . . . Wonderfully evocative . . . This heartfelt memoir, with its message on the saving grace of nature, may speak to an even wider audience than it first imagined * * Daily Mail * *A powerful, bracing memoir that asks what happens when a child grows up in a city that isn't safe . . . This is a book that will make you see the world differently * * Irish Times * *

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Book Synopsis'Luminous' The Times'Beautiful' Caught by the RiverBringing together contemporary Scottish writing on nature and landscape, this inspiring collection takes us from walking to wild swimming, from red deer to pigeons and wasps, from remote islands to back gardens, through prose, poetry and photography.Edited and introduced by Kathleen Jamie, and with contributions from Amy Liptrot, Jim Crumley, Chitra Ramaswamy, Malachy Tallack, Amanda Thomson and many more, Antlers of Water urges us to renegotiate our relationship with the more-than-human world, in writing which is by turns celebratory, radical and political.Trade ReviewSplendid . . . Read, and treasure what we have while we have it * * The Times * *A selection of luminous essays, poems and visual art . . . The most intuitive pieces reflect that nature is not something to be explored on weekends and in nice weather but through everyday rituals . . . [written with] a gallows humour and deftness of touch * * The Times * *Varied and unexpected . . . The Scotland we find here is a bracingly complex place . . . Yields some very fine writing * * TLS * *Essential . . . With fine contributions from a variety of diverse writers and artists, this is more than a celebration of the natural world; it is a call to action. From placenames to field notes, creatures to flora; bodies of water to stretches of land - this is a raw, exquisite reckoning, free from blinkers, full of love and loss. To protect something, we must see it. These contributors show us our world, one still so full of hope -- Kerri ní Dochartaigh * * Irish Times * *Beautiful . . . A series of authentic experiences, each individual immersing themselves in nature . . . Antlers of Water is a warm invitation to reimagine your intimacy to nature, whether that's within the confinements of a communal city garden or on an island surrounded by the vast ocean. But whilst we should enjoy it, in whatever manner we please, we must not forget we must also take care of it * * Caught by the River, Book of the Month * *Features some fine writing on Scotland's environment * * Independent * *Rich and intriguing . . . Illuminating, insightful and - even more important - necessary, there's something for everyone here, whether you're a devoted Munro bagger and birdwatcher or an occasional countryside visitor * * Herald * *Provides relief and inspiration . . . Open-hearted . . . The knowledge that there is something bigger than ourselves, is a relief. How deep the water is, how old the mountains. Scotland is wild. I'm going out to look again * * Scotsman * *Reveals why fresh awareness of wildlife and landscape should be cherished * * Sunday Post * *A bravura collection of essays on the splendour and wildness of the Scottish landscape, Antlers of Water is edited by the acclaimed Kathleen Jamie and draws together a stellar list of contributors * * Waterstones, Best Books of the Year * *

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Book Synopsis** WINNER OF THE LAUREL PRIZE 2021 ****A SPECTATOR AND IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020****SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES / UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020****SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN POLLARD FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE 2021****SHORTLISTED FOR THE DALKEY LITERARY EMERGING WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2021**A remarkable first collection by an important new poetIn this collection, Seán Hewitt gives us poems of a rare musicality and grace. By turns searing and meditative, these are lyrics concerned with the matter of the world, its physicality, but also attuned to the proximity of each moment, each thing, to the spiritual. Here, there is sex, grief, and loss, but also a committed dedication to life, hope and renewal. Drawing on the religious, the sacred and the profane, this is a collection in which men meet in the woods, where matter is corrupted and remade. There are prayers, hymns, vespers, incantations, and longer poems which attempt to propel themselves towards the transcendent. In this book, there is always the sense of fragility allied with strength, a violence harnessed and unleashed. The collection ends with a series of elegies for the poet's father: in the face of despair, we are met with a fierce brightness, and a reclamation of the spiritual. 'This is when / we make God, and speak in his voice.'Paying close attention to altered states and the consolations and strangeness of the natural world, this is the first book from a major poet.Trade ReviewSeán Hewitt soars... His poetry will stand the test of time, for...the sheer musicality of the language, the lightness on his metrical feet, and his keen ear for "the music of what happens" charm the reader into submission. This is an astonishingly assured debut delivered in a poetic voice that has eloquence, compassion, and serenity in equal measure...in the pantheistic tradition of Wordsworth, Whitman, John Clare, and Seamus Heaney... When it comes to nascent talent, we Irish have a tendency to mistake the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy for the ninth, thrusting premature greatness upon the liveliest embryos. By contrast, Hewitt seems to have sprung fully formed into the literary world and, on this showing, nothing seems beyond him. -- Bert Wright * Sunday Times *It is extraordinary to encounter a debut collection that feels as established as Seán Hewitt’s… These unmediated poems are, at the same time, charged: they pull you in swiftly, you become immersed… In ‘Tongues of Fire’, the title piece and last in the collection, the present is burning. It is an exceptionally moving poem – impossible to read without a lump in the throat… He grafts the people and circumstances of his life on to nature with unerring brilliance… This is, above all, a devotional collection and will lift the spirits of all who read it…. He has a gift for gravity, rootedness, calm… Hewitt has the confidence to relax and to allow his poems, in an unaffected and sometimes conversational way, to speak to the heart. -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *Poetry Book of the Month* *I fell into [Tongues of Fire] one morning and read the whole book through and it truly warmed my soul. He's an exquisitely calm and insightful lyric poet, reverential in nature and gorgeously wise in the field of human drama. It's a stunning collection of poems. -- Max Porter * Irish Times *Best Books of 2020* *Very accomplished poems. -- Sebastian Faulks * Spectator *Books of the Year* *This is an extraordinary collection - heart-bruising, tender - one to cherish, and live by. Though Hewitt moves us through anguish and destruction, love still glows; and in the dark undoings of these poems, decay lights the wildwood with its strange, ethereal foxfire. As Hewitt writes, "it is hard to tell where heaven starts"; I find it in these poems, which are beyond-gorgeous, beyond-glorious, blood-felt, feral, luminous. -- Fiona BensonSeán Hewitt understands that poetic form is sacred and mysterious. In these godforsaken times his reverent procedures are food for the soul. -- Michael LongleyI fell in love with these wild, heartsore, ecstatic poems. They lead us to deep, hushed places - in the woods and heaths, in our hearts and bodies - and unearth such tenderness and dark treasure. Tongues of Fire is a beautiful book and Seán Hewitt is an extraordinary writer. -- Liz BerryIn Tongues of Fire, Hewitt crafts poems of intense beauty and endless range, which glisten with queer desire... Considered and poised, every line in this stunning compilation surprises and nurtures. -- Uli Lenart * attitude, *Books of the Year* *

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Book SynopsisDocumenting the species that have emerged, disappeared and been reborn over the millennia since the Cambrian Explosion, Lost Animals is the story of life on Earth. Over 520 million years ago, all the major animal groups – molluscs, worms, crustaceans, vertebrates – appear in the fossil record in what is, geologically speaking, the blink of an eye. As well as the animals we're familiar with today, evolution also experimented with now-obsolete body forms. Once, the world was a blank slate, but as this slate filled up, some lines were erased while others carried on to this day. Beautifully illustrated with artist's interpretations, photographs of fossils and excavations and scientific drawings, Lost Animals brings back to life some of the most charismatic creatures to inhabit the planet, as well as those representing an important link or leap in evolutionary terms. Zoologist Dr John Whitfield discusses those species we have lost, are only just discovering and those thought extinct until rediscovered, and the attempts to conserve and resurrect others.

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Book SynopsisThe Natural History Puzzle Book guides you through the history of our incredible world with hundreds of questions certain to confound and amuse children and parents alike.The themed quizzes speed through time and space, testing your knowledge on everything from ancient fossils and dinosaurs to human evolution and the natural world around us.The puzzles come in three levels of difficulty, from easy to difficult. Easy puzzles, like mazes and spot-the-differences, are solvable by all members of the family, from young to old. Others, such as nonograms and bridge puzzles, might need a more experienced puzzle-solver to complete them. However, with fun facts appearing throughout, The Natural History Puzzle Book is an informative and fun read for any budding scientist!Table of ContentsMore than 100 quizzes and puzzles.

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Book SynopsisFrom source to sea, go on a breath-taking adventure along a river and explore some of the greatest waterways of the world, with fold-out pages.Rivers flow across every continent on our planet, shaping the land and bringing life. Towns, cities and entire civilisations have grown up on their banks, from the Ancient Mesopotamians 5,000 years ago. Turn the pages to follow the incredible journey of a river from its source in high up in the mountains, along its gorges, through its valleys, down its waterfalls and into the sea. Explore the river's geography, discover the unique wildlife it supports, see how the waterways have shaped our world - and how we have shaped them.Featuring fold-out pages of six great rivers from around the world: Amazon (South America), Nile (Africa), Mississippi (North America), Rhine (Europe), Ganges (Asia) and Murray (Australia).Written by self-confessed explorer and children's author Simon Chapman, expertly checked by river ecologist François Edwards and beautifully illustrated by Qu Lan.Trade ReviewWith six spectacular fold-out sections depicting The Nile, Rhine, Amazon, Mississippi, Ganges and Murray rivers this highly illustrated large format hardback is packed with accessible information about the environment, topography, impact of humans, and unique features of each watercourse. Highly recommended for KS2. * School Reading List *Highly recommended for use in class, or to enjoy at home, whether bought (because who wouldn't want a copy?) or borrowed from a library. * ReadingZone *This beautiful book is perfect for future pub quiz champions, with fold-out pages of 6 rivers. * Saturday Times *

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Book Synopsis-----------------------------'Touching and on occasion profoundly moving ... The connections and affinities that fill this book enliven, enlighten and delight.' STEPHEN FRY'Beautifully written and insightful.' RAYNOR WINN'Searle creates a powerful sense of place. You can sniff the air and touch the trees.' MICHAEL PALIN-----------------------------A lyrical journey through life, love and natureWeaving together personal stories, Threads deals with the meanings of intimacy, vulnerability and our affinities with people and places, both wild and tame. It is a deep exploration of the encounters that lend quiet networks of grace to our busy lives.William Henry Searle casts an eye back to episodes spent in close and tender relationships with members of his family, childhood friends, animals and loved ones, in places that range from his father’s scrap metal yards, to the jungles of Borneo, an Oregon river and the Swiss Alps. In thoughtful, elegant prose, Searle celebrates the quiet conversations that nourish us, and the everyday patterns of connection that give meaning to our human existence.-----------------------------'An exceptionally rich celebration of the natural world, by turns rapturous and melancholy, and often – in strikingly original ways – both at the same time.' SIR ANDREW MOTIONTrade ReviewTouching and on occasion profoundly moving ... The connections and affinities that fill this book enliven, enlighten and delight. * Stephen Fry *An exceptionally rich celebration of the natural world, by turns rapturous and melancholy, and often – in strikingly original ways – both at the same time. * Sir Andrew Motion *Beautifully written and insightful. * Raynor Winn *Searle creates a powerful sense of place. You can sniff the air and touch the trees. * Michael Palin *

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Book SynopsisFrom cocoa farming in Ghana to the orchards of Kent and the desert badlands of Pakistan, taking a practical approach to sustaining the landscape can mean the difference between prosperity and ruin. Working with Nature is the story of a lifetime of work, often in extreme environments, to harvest nature and protect it - in effect, gardening on a global scale. It is also a memoir of encounters with larger-than-life characters such as William Bunting, the gun-toting saviour of Yorkshire's peatlands and the aristocratic gardener Vita Sackville-West, examining their idiosyncratic approaches to conservation. Jeremy Purseglove explains clearly and convincingly why it's not a good idea to extract as many resources as possible, whether it's the demand for palm oil currently denuding the forests of Borneo, cottonfield irrigation draining the Aral Sea, or monocrops spreading across Britain. The pioneer of engineering projects to preserve nature and landscape, first in Britain and then around the world, he offers fresh insights and solutions at each step.Trade ReviewPraise for Jeremy Purseglove's Taming the Flood: 'Jeremy Purseglove has a gift that is increasingly rare in these days of scientific specialization - of joining practical wisdom about working with nature and the land to an imaginative appreciation of their place in our history and culture.' -- Richard MabeyA pioneering and counter-culture work -- Oliver RackhamIt is a celebration of life in and around the water and it is an eloquent plea to water engineers, to farmers and to Government to respect that life * BBC Wildlife *

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Book Synopsis'A priceless portrait of one of the least understood and frequently most vilified of people: farmers. It should really be read by all in this country who buys food - i.e. everyone.' Daily Mail 'Highly researched and deeply thoughtful ... Bathurst peers under the bonnet of these lives and reveals things that rarely make it into print.' James Rebanks, The Times 'A fine achievement: describing the indescribable' Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows We think we know what makes Britain's countryside: drystone walls, stiles, sheep on a distant hillside. But for many of us, farmers themselves - the men and women who shape, maintain and care for that land - often remain a mystery: familiar but unpredictable, a secretive industry that's still visible from space. In Field Work, Bella Bathurst journeys through Britain to talk to those on the far side of the fence. From fruit farmers to fallen stock operators, from grassy uplands to polytunnels, she creates a portrait of modern Britain, exposing in the process the inextricable bonds that exist between land and the people who farm it. As farmers find themselves torn between time-honoured methods and modern appetites, these raw, wise and funny accounts reveal an ancient way of life changing beyond recognition.Trade ReviewHighly researched and deeply thoughtful ... Bathurst peers under the bonnet of these lives and reveals things that rarely make it into print. She has a talent for asking the right questions ... Field Work is by turns funny, enlightening, frustrating and deeply sad. -- James Rebanks * The Times *A beautiful hybrid of social history, memoir and nature writing, Field Work manages to bring an entire world out of the shadows. ... Bathurst shows us how interesting all life is if viewed with the correct mixture of sympathy and curiosity -- Alex Preston * Observer *A genuine attempt to get under the fingernails of the people who work in land-based industries and understand why they carry on doing what they do, usually for little financial reward, often in great discomfort and in the face of adversity. And it is a distinguished work of journalism by someone who asks the questions that the reader wants asked [and] sifts the answers perceptively ... This thought-provoking book portrays, with uncomfortable accuracy, life on the green bits beyond the 30-mile limits of Britain's towns -- Jamie Blackett * Telegraph *A priceless portrait of one of the least understood and frequently most vilified of people: farmers. It should really be read by all in this country who buys food - i.e. everyone. If anyone wants to understand farming better, I would press this book into their hands ... The writing is at once tough and lyrical, unsentimental, piercingly truthful and observant ... heart-wrenching as well as dryly funny ... Field Work is a superb testament to that way of life, and richly demonstrates what a terrible loss that would be - for all of us. -- Book of the Week * Daily Mail *A fine achievement: describing the indescribable -- Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of CowsExactly the book I've been longing to read about farming. A proper behind-the-scenes look, fascinating, insightful, compassionate. -- Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley and The Light of Stubborn ThingsA long overdue account of the true nature of farming - written from the ground up. Bella Bathurst really gets under the skin of what it means to farm the land in the 21st century, at a time of unprecedented change. -- Stephen Moss, naturalist and author of Skylarks with RosieField Work is a nuanced book - something that has been lacking in mainstream discussions on food and farming. It's an insightful, compassionate and sometimes funny behind-the-scenes tour of a familiar but little understood world. * Geographical Magazine *

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Book Synopsis'A practical, no-nonsense guide to getting children back to nature ... Brilliant' Stephen Moss 'A valuable practical guide to helping children form a kinship with nature' Independent Many of us want to spend more time outside with our kids - but what do we do when we're there, and why is a connection to nature so important and wonderful anyway? The Nature Seed is a practical and philosophical guide for anyone with children in their lives. Full of the wonders of sharing the natural world with young minds, it's a manual for finding awe in the cracks of the pavement and magic on a stroll around the block. Whether on an urban walk or in an inner-city park, out in the woods or by the sea, Lucy weaves together stories of how a connection to nature helps children thrive, and Ken draws on his time working with kids outdoors to give you creative, easy and free child-led activities to deepen that connection, from wild art to simple fires, potions, foraging and make-believe. Wherever you live, The Nature Seed offers a radical vision of a new kinship with nature, one that will help all of us expand, nurture and deepen our wild life.Trade ReviewA practical, no-nonsense guide to getting children back to nature - complete with why we need to do so. Brilliant -- Stephen MossIt was just what I needed -- Amy LiptrotSo uplifting and practical, it helps us look forwards rather than be paralysed by fear and angst -- Mary ColwellA valuable practical guide to helping children form a kinship with nature * Independent *A handy guide * New Scientist *Information for the unsure adult to gain some confidence with UK wildlife * New Scientist *Excellent at drawing out the relationship between people and the outdoors ... [helps] anyone with kids in their life share the wonders and magic of the natural world and encourage children to deepen their relationship with it * Bloom Magazine *Praise for Losing Eden by Lucy Jones: Urgent, accessible, moving ... A beautifully written, research-heavy study about how nature offers us wellbeing * Observer *The benefits of experiencing nature may be far greater than is commonly appreciated ... A fascinating exploration of the new science of our connection to the natural world ... written in such lush, vivid prose that reading it, one can feel transported and restored. * New Statesman *Wonderful...This is an important book and one I'll refer back to * Telegraph Book of the Year *Beautifully written, movingly told and meticulously researched ... a convincing plea for a wilder, richer world -- Isabella Tree, author of * Wilding *Praise for Foxes Unearthed by Lucy Jones: Jones's history of our complex relationship with the fox is revealing... to discover there was an 18th-century sport of 'fox tossing' almost makes this worth the purchase alone -- John Lewis-Stempel * The Times Books of the Year 2016 *Brave, bold and honest - finally the truth about foxes -- Chris Packham, broadcaster and naturalistEngaging and hugely enjoyable -- Tom Holland * Times Literary Supplement *A sensitive and illuminating investigation . . . a beautiful book that will change the way you think about the fox -- Rob Cowen, author of * Common Ground *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the answers behind the mysteries of the countryside in all their fascination and beauty... Ever wondered about the masses of twigs in bare-branched trees that look like abandoned nests? Seen fuzzy red balls on roses? A stranded pond on a hilltop? Or even considered the shaded ways we walk along? One of Britain's best-known naturalists, John Wright describes and explores fifty of the natural (and unnatural) puzzles of the countryside that might confound the ever-curious. He reveals the histories and practicalities of those that are man-made and the astounding and intricate lives of the natural wonders around us. From the enormous to the truly tiny he illuminates the oddities that pepper our countryside and reveals the many pleasures of spotting and understanding them. Informative, entertaining and beautifully illustrated, this is for anyone who has ever gone outside and wondered what is that?Trade ReviewBEST NATURE BOOKS OF 2021 'Highly readable ... Apart from his ready knowledge of nature, [John Wright] has a sharp eye, a ready wit and a keen nose for a good story. Superb. * Countryfile Magazine *Praise for The Forager's Calendar: 'He writes so engagingly ... [This book] is a treasure. It is beautifully produced, designed and illustrated. -- John Carey * The Sunday Times *John Wright writes as though he's talking directly to you, a good friend in the same room. His harvest of fascinating information is worn lightly, with funny, whimsical observations... this wonderful book should be well-thumbed by anyone who is interested in the natural world. * BBC Countryfile *A hugely useful, well-illustrated and often funny book * The Times *

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Bestseller 'Within two pages, nature writing feels different and fresh and new ... This book demands we find the eyes to see and the heart to love such things once more. It is a very fine book indeed, truly full of wonder' - James Rebanks, author of Pastoral Song 'Unusual and captivating ... a thing of wonder, the book that most took me by surprise this year' - Jini Reddy, author of Wanderland Aimee Nezhukumatathil has had many homes, but wherever she was - however awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape - she found guidance and perspective in nature. The axolotl smiles, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shakes off unwanted advances; the narwhal survives its hostile environment. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. Warm, lyrical and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Mini Nakamura, this book ranges through joy and pain, encountering love, motherhood and heritage, racism and the destruction humans can wreak. In all those things, it shows that if you listen carefully, if you open your eyes wide, the world is full of wonders.Trade ReviewWithin two pages, nature writing feels different and fresh and new. Nezhukumatathil has written a timely story about love, identity and belonging ... We are losing the language and the ability to see and understand the wondrous things around us. And our lives are impoverished by this process ... This book demands we find the eyes to see and the heart to love such things once more. It is a very fine book indeed, truly full of wonder. -- James Rebanks * New York Times Book Review *An unusual and captivating memoir ... Nezhukumatathil exudes a rare zest for life, and her inherent love for the natural world shines through. World of Wonders is a thing of wonder, the book that most took me by surprise this year -- Jini Reddy, Wainwright Prize-shortlisted author of WanderlandA restless search for identity and belonging finds a warm welcome in nature's details. Nezhukumatathil's writing is like coming home. -- Gillian Burke, biologist and presenter of BBC2's Springwatch and WinterwatchAimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders is the first book to make me feel like a firefly as much as it reminds me I'm still a black boy playing in Central Mississippi woods. The book walks. It sprints. It leaps. Most importantly, the book lingers in a world where power, people, and the literal outside wrestle painfully, beautifully. This book is a world of wonders. This book is about to shake the Earth. -- Kiese LaymonAimee Nezhukumatathil gives us the world in technicolour. Astonishing nature burgeons all around her as she shows what it means to find wonder in a wilfully dull world -- Katherine MaySometimes we need teachers who remind us how to be flabbergasted and gobsmacked and flummoxed and enswooned by the wonders of this earth. How to be in stupefied and devotional love to the wonders of this earth. How to be in love with this, our beloved earth. Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders is as good and generous a teacher as one could ever ask for. This book enraptures with its own astonishments and reveries while showing us how to be enraptured, how to revere. Which, again, is showing us how to be in love. I can think of nothing more important. Or wonderful. -- Ross Gay, author of The Book of DelightsFrom its gorgeous illustrations to its unusual combination of lyrical nature writing and memoir, World of Wonders is hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year. -- NPR "Best Books of 2020"In thirty bewitching essays, Nezhukumatathil spotlights natural astonishments raining from monsoon season in India to clusters of fireflies in western New York, each one a microcosm of joy and amazement. With her ecstatic prose and her rapturous powers of insight, Nezhukumatathil proves herself a worthy spiritual successor to the likes of Mary Oliver and Annie Dillard, setting the bar high for a new generation of nature writers. * Esquire *Should the wonderful David Attenborough ever retire, my hope is someone at BBC has read the work of Aimee Nezhukumatathil ... What a lovely book this is, gentle in its pacing, well-illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, and quietly subversive in the way she channels its gusts of joy. * Literary Hub *Nezhukumatathil's investigations, enhanced by Nakamura's vividly rendered full-color illustrations, range across the world, from a rapturous rendering of monsoon season in her father's native India to her formative years in Iowa, Kansas, and Arizona, where she learned from the native flora and fauna that it was common to be different ... The writing dazzles with the marvel of being fully alive. -- Starred Review * Kirkus Reviews *An unusual and beguiling blend of cultural memoir and Nature writing ... [Nezhukumatathil's] irrepressible spirit and zest for life shine throughout * Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine *These are the praise songs of a poet working brilliantly in prose. Each essay compresses a great deal of art and truth into a small space, whether about fireflies or flamingos, monkeys or monsoons, childhood or motherhood, or the trials and triumphs of living with brown skin in a dominant white world. You will not find a more elegant, exuberant braiding of natural and personal history. -- Scott Russell Sanders, author of The Way of ImaginationThe nature writing we have been exposed to has been overwhelmingly male and white, which is just one reason that Aimee Nezhukumatathil's latest essay collection, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments is a breath of fresh air ... What makes her work shine is its joyful embrace of difference, revealing that true beauty resides only in diversity. * San Francisco Chronicle *World of Wonders is a stunning union of biography, poetry, philosophy, and science; it is imbued with a love for her readers and for the natural world, and with a hope that people of color will feel more seen in nature writing . . . With a sense of amazement for the creatures around us, Aimee makes an ardent and artistic case for a compassionate ethics grounded in a deeper understanding?and love?of nature. * The Rumpus *Reading World of Wonders, it's clear that Nezhukumatathil is a poet. These essays sing with joy and longing?each focusing on a different natural wonder, all connected by the thread of Nezhukumatathil's curiosity and her identification with the world's beautiful oddities ... It's a heartwarming, poignant, and often funny collection, enlivened by Fumi Nakamura's dreamy illustrations. * BuzzFeed *Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders is a gorgeous collection of essays that ruminate on flora, fauna, and what they can teach us about life itself. Moving between vignettes from Nezhukumatathil's life and her ponderings on nature, World of Wonders is a one-of-a-kind book you won't want to miss this year. * Bustle *Nezhukumatathil applies her skill as a poet to a scintillating series of short essays on nature. She takes up topics that fascinate her - the bizarre-looking potoo birds of Central and South America; corpse flowers, with their rich colors and acrid odor - and connects them to her own experience of the world ... Throughout, she vividly describes sounds, smells, and color - the myriad hues of a 'sea of saris' from India - and folds in touches of poetry. Fumi Nakamura's lush illustrations add to the book's appeal. Readers of Terry Tempest Williams and Annie Dillard will appreciate Nezhukumatathil's lyrical look at nature. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis'A must-have guide for all puppy parents.'HOLLY WILLOUGHBYGive your dog the best start to life with Dr Scott Miller's guide to raising the perfect puppy. All your questions are answered and concerns quelled with this friendly and authoritative guide to puppy care, which also contains features on puppy psychology and debunking popular myths. Follow Puppy Parenting's clear chronological format and learn what to expect at each stage of your pet's development, as well as how you can deal with behavioural and health issues. Case studies demonstrate real life problems and solutions and allow you to compare your experiences to those of others, including Dr Miller's, as he raises his own troublesome terrier, Betty.

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Book SynopsisAlice Taylor brings the reader with her on her 80th birthday year. Alice had a big birthday on the horizon, the village was about to celebrate many milestones, and she had just received the gift of a book focusing her on the art of living well. So she decided to write about her year as it unfolded, to keep a journal of the big events, and record the twists and turns normal life brings to all of us in just one year. But 2018 turned out to be far from normal, with storms, snow blizzards, blistering sun, severe drought and water shortages. She describes the challenges of all these dramatic weather changes. Alice began the year wondering how she would feel about reaching eighty. She was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was just another milestone on a journey that is still varied and interesting. Here she writes about these feelings, and the many pleasant and challenging events of her eightieth year.Trade Reviewsuch beautiful photographs throughout … reflective, also very hopeful * RTE TV's Today show *

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Book SynopsisSolace is that feeling of calm and comfort, that sense of peace that is all around us when we are open to finding it. Writer and photographer Catherine Drea explores the solace to be found in nature and creativity. She reflects on loss, the cycle of life and the healing power of family and community. She muses on the joy of finding a place to call home, the escape that travel brings and the exhilaration of plunging into our waters – all the while embracing the therapeutic power of observing the ordinary and the everyday. With the passing seasons, her camera captures fleeting moments in nature – the light and lie of the land with its precious wildlife: among them sentinel robins, elusive Irish hares and serene swans. Solace is quite simply a balm for the soul. ‘In this beautiful book Catherine Drea explores deeply emotive issues, calms the mind, soothes the soul, and focuses her sensitive lens on the wonders of the natural world.’ Alice Taylor, author of To School through the FieldsTrade ReviewIn this beautiful book Catherine Drea, while delicately exploring deeply emotive issues, calms the mind, soothes the soul and, through the sensitive lens of her camera, focuses the eye on the wonders of the natural world -- Alice TaylorCatherine explores the solace she finds in the natural world…Her beautiful photographs enhance the text as she shares the beauty that surrounds her. The verdict: A gentle, meditative book encouraging us to slow down and appreciate the things that connect us. -- Irish Examinerin this moving memoir, photographer and artist Catherine Drea explores solace found in the cyclical nature of seasons and indeed our lives, lives often unfathomable and dark with shadows.… Ultimately a book of seasons where nature photography dominates, the pages are as leaves, each overturn revealing thoughts, wildlife and poetry, both in Irish and English… Although a feminine book, its importance is for all. Amid this technological invasion, is what was once considered New Age/Alternative now becoming mainstream, as humans, spiritual beings, need more than ever to experience magic and mystery in woodlands or under starlit skies? -- Irish ExaminerWhat a wonderful book, not just the photographs which are incredible but also the sentiment in the book … the journey through nature … just a wonderful book -- East Coast FM’s Morning ShowTable of ContentsA word from the author 8 Spring – The lie of the land 10 1 Setting out 13 2 This landscape 23 3 When spring comes 35 4 Nesting 43 Summer – The inner landscape 52 5 The rose-petal path 55 6 An encounter with the wild 71 7 Wild summer 81 8 Lost and found 93 Autumn – Twists and turns along the path 106 9 Seeking light 109 10 Wandering further afield 131 11 Soulfire 143 12 Ripening 155 Winter – Breathing space 164 13 Hibernation 167 14 Healing 181 15 Map-making 199 16 Beginning again and again 213 The poets 224

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