Nature and the natural world: general interest Books

Book Synopsis[Wild Nights Out] is a wonderful invitation to rediscover the dark and all the thing that cry, creep or glow there. Chris Packham from the Foreword [Wild Nights Out] is about reframing our relationship with darkness...because without that affinity humans will remain tourists in their own landscape. the Guardian This book gently holds your hand and guides you into the mysterious folds of the darkness, helping you get the most out of the night. Nocturnal empowerment for the curious. Nick Baker, naturalist, TV presenter and author The go-to guide for exploring nature at night, whether on summer holidays, weekends away or even back garden adventures! Learn how to call for owls, walk like a fox and expand your sensory perceptions. Wild Nights Out is a wonderful new hands-on guide for those who wish to take kids (of all ages) outdoors for fun, thrilling nighttime nature adventures. Parents, grandparents, teachers and nature educators alike will discover a wealth of unique activities to explore the natural world from dusk till dawn. Alongside games, walks and exercises to expand our senses, storyteller and outdoor educator Chris Salisbury will bring this unexplored nocturnal dimension to life with lore about badgers, bats and minibeasts as well as tales of the constellations and planets to share around the campfire. In Wild Nights Out you can expect to find: 25 fun and informative games and activities Practical information on how to conduct night walks safely Animal facts and stargazing stories Beautiful black-and-white illustrations throughout Nature has so much to offer at night, so let Wild Nights Out be your guide to the dark. It will boost the resilience and self-confidence of children and adults, and instill a lifelong love of having fun in the outdoors when the sun goes down.Trade Review‘So inspiring! Reading Wild Nights Out is like being given an invitation to a whole new dimension of life. Exploring and nature spotting don’t need to stop when the sun goes down. For grown-ups, children, and anyone in between, this book offers guidance, ideas, challenges to try and games to play in the dusk and dark. But, more than anything else, it encourages us to cross a threshold into a new world and go on a nocturnal ramble to look and listen for where the wild things are.’—Simon Reeve, author and broadcaster‘If you are a creature intrigued about the dimpsy hours and its goings-on, this is the perfect companion for your adventures. As the planet spins us away from the sun, a world less explored is to be found – a time of new creatures, celestial bodies, new sights, sounds and smells. This book gently holds your hand and guides you into the mysterious folds of the darkness, helping you get the most out of the night. Nocturnal empowerment for the curious.’—Nick Baker, naturalist, TV presenter and author‘If you once wished the days to never end, with Chris’s glorious and concise re-enchantment of the night, you too will soon become a nocturnal convert, willing your children to stay up and out as late as possible. Wild Nights Out isn’t so much about conquering the fear of the dark but redeeming this realm through ancient and intrepid means of befriending it, inspiring wonderful ways to play beyond the reach of electricity’s falsifying security.’—Sam Lee, folk singer, Radio 4 presenter, and Mercury Prize–nominated artist‘Chris Salisbury knows of what he speaks. This storyteller has been thoroughly drubbed in nature’s mood swings and come up the wiser for it. Wild Nights Out is an inventive mapping of that accumulated knowledge. Long before it was even vaguely fashionable, Chris was walking the roads of wildness and story, and this book is a lovely testament to his devotion. Both pragmatic and poetic, Wild Nights Out will be a worthy companion for anyone who yearns for a fresh and unexpected relationship to the living world. There are big, powerful energies out there in the dark, and a few have slipped into this book, chewing on its edges.’—Dr Martin Shaw, author of Smoke Hole and Courting the Wild Twin‘A fantastic mix of usefulness and imagination, of practical experience and love for the living world.’—Jay Griffiths, author of Kith and Wild: An Elemental Journey‘Wild Nights Out is the night’s song, seducing us like a siren on a rock, beckoning us to dive deep into an enchanted world. Chris Salisbury has collated a hundred reasons to step over this threshold and explore, perhaps for the first time, the wonder of the wild night. Stars, stories, songs and games come out of his wizard’s hat to reacquaint us with the mysteries of nocturnal nature. As an educator and parent, I’m so glad this book has been offered to a world hungry for meaning and connection.’—Charlotte Church, singer and broadcaster; founder, Awen Project‘Wild Nights Out is a masterful guide for night walks. Chock-full of engaging games and fascinating information, this book makes leading night-time excursions a joy. Chris Salisbury has created a magnificent and comprehensive resource for anyone who loves the night.’—Joseph Bharat Cornell, author of Sharing Nature, Deep Nature Play, and Flow Learning‘Chris Salisbury is a consummate guide to the night and its chrysalis-like capacity to convert us from sailors of safe harbors to celebrants of uncharted seas – wanderers amidst nocturnal creatures (like owls, bats, and badgers) or the existential conundrums that the night sky elicits (like Why are we here?). Chris doesn’t resolve the frights and riddles of the dark, but deftly draws us in, supporting us to make our own dazzling discoveries and to be shape-shifted by our night-walk odysseys. Wild Nights Out: don’t go into the dark without it.’—Bill Plotkin, PhD, author of Soulcraft and The Journey of Soul Initiation‘This book has been a long time coming in the nature education field, and finally Chris Salisbury has put down in words something that should be in every nature/environmental educator’s pocket and on their shelf of well-thumbed pages. Wild Nights Out is neatly book ended with the question why is it dark? and takes the practitioner on a journey exploring this and many other questions about the shady side of the planet. It is not just Chris’s inimitable poetry that make this such a great read, it is the enticing experiences and journeys into the night that Chris takes us on that we can easily replicate, adapt and conduct with our groups of learners which will help relate to and answer those questions of the night. This book is packed full of activities for immersing learners in the world of dusk to dawn that can be adapted for any age and gives the all-important health and safety tips to help people feel comfortable and yet still feel the nervous anticipation, excitement and beauty of the darkened hours. There are poems and stories, ways to use stories around the campfire, lots of natural history and ‘tuning in’ activities and titbits, journeys into different habitats – from the river to the seashore, and of course ways of magically interacting with the night sky. We miss out on this most important aspect of nature learning in a big way in our industrially lit world. This book will help the educator – and the learners they guide – fill in the gaps of our experiences, revelling in what is a magical kingdom, helping us see the night as a constant companion and explore those deeper questions about what it means to live on this beautiful planet and its ‘dark side’. It is a must for all nature educators around the planet.’—Jon Cree, founding chair, Forest School Association; coauthor of The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy; veteran educator and nature connection trainer‘In his wonderful book, Wild Nights Out, Chris Salisbury reminds us of so many things forgotten. The night is truly fully half of our lives. Yet today we live as if we only experience the day. Through his wonderful stories, lore, science and accessible activities, Chris helps us remember that we are, as humans, at least half darkness. Through the journey of Wild Nights Out, we are remembering the part of us that has been hidden in recent times, and it’s like meeting a long-lost relative that we truly love.’—Jon Young, author of Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature and What the Robin Knows‘Chris Salisbury is without doubt one of the world’s foremost outdoor ecological educators, as I have seen myself over and over again at Schumacher College. In this marvellously well-written book, Chris shares his decades of wisdom and experience about how to bring children into the presence of the night as a living being, with her sounds, sights, smells, depths and imaginings. Even if you don’t use this book with children specifically in mind, like me, you’ll be enchanted from start to finish by its capacity to introduce you and people of all ages to the wonders of the night. You’ll feel a powerful urge to go out into the night yourself with Chris and his book as guides to wake up your forgotten child’s vivid perceptions of nature. Obey that urge and discover Gaia. Chris’s book is a masterpiece – an important landmark in the growing literature on ecological education.’—Dr Stephan Harding, Deep Ecology Research Fellow, senior lecturer in Holistic Science, Schumacher College, Dartington, UK‘Chris Salisbury piques curiosity in such a way that brings people beyond knowledge and information, and into meaningful and real connection and relationship. As a storyteller and educator, his ability to weave together natural history, science, story, poetry, and myth in a graceful and compelling way is evident among these pages. I see it as critical to provide educators, and people in general, not just with good information, natural history, and science, but also with brilliant strategies for bringing people along for the ride in a way that is fun, creative, and artistic. Advocates for the human right to deeply connect to place could well use a guide that helps us find narratives that weave together in a soulful approach to the lifelong journey of falling in love with the earth. Wild Nights Out helps us do that.’—Marcus Reynerson, adult immersion program manager and lead instructor, Wilderness Awareness School‘I cannot think of a better all-round book to enchant your family’s evening walk or an enthralling night-time adventure with groups of children or adults. It offers a wealth of nature-connecting ideas, stories and games. All convey Chris Salisbury’s deep involvement with the creation of fabulous darkness experiences in the outdoors. The book belongs in every family home and library. Buy it.’—Dr Alida Gersie, author of Earthtales and Storytelling for a Greener World‘Like the storyteller he is, Chris leads us by enchantment into the beauty and depth of the dark. He entices us into its warm embrace – to remember, to listen, to feel part of something unseen once again. His book is rich in poetry and fact, as practical as it is, a conjuring of our interest in something so hidden, we may have forgotten it ever existed. He takes us by the hand and leaves traces for us to follow – each in our own way, an adventure that calls every time we close our eyes. And he does us a great service, reminding us that just a little way down the path, there is so much more to life inside us and all around us to meet if only our fear will allow.’—Ya’Acov Darling Khan, author of Jaguar in the Body, Butterfly in the Heart and Shaman: Invoking Power, Presence and Purpose at the Core of Who You Are‘This book is an invitation to step out of the everyday world and into the darkness, and to find the night wonderful: wild and rich and beautiful. Chris takes us on a journey through landscapes and starscapes and species, experiencing the nocturnal world through all our senses. He offers ways to absorb, understand and use those experiences to leave us inspired, finding new strength and joy to change how we live in this world for the better.’—Gordon MacLellan, author and environmental trainer‘A delightful, mysterious, compelling work born of Chris Salisbury’s lifetime love of nature. This wonderful book is like the night itself, daring us to step outside and, wrapped in shadows, become alive to that we can only ever fleetingly behold.’—Mac Macartney, author, speaker, change-maker‘Wild Nights Out is an intoxicating cocktail of outdoor activities and inspirations, and one that every environmental educator has been longing for, even if he or she hadn’t realised that before reading it. Here is the realm of night, unwrapped for us by Salisbury like rich jewels on black velvet. Informative, resourceful, packed with wisdom and wit, this is a book for all ages and all times – a book that connects us with the wild natural world that awaits, as raw and relevant today as it was to our ancestors generations ago.’—Prof Clayton MacKenzie, provost and interim president, Hong Kong Baptist University‘This book is so timely as we continue to rediscover the well-being benefits of reconnecting with the natural world. It will be a great source of inspiration and practical direction for anyone interested in helping to bring to life the nocturnal nature that is close at hand for people of all ages. I strongly recommend this book written by an expert facilitator in an engaging and accessible way – it will no doubt inspire you, like it did me, to venture out after dark and appreciate afresh the wonderful world in which we live.’—Paul Warwick, associate professor, Sustainable Education and Civic Futures, University of Plymouth, UK

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Book SynopsisLand is key to the operations of coloniality, but the power of the land is also the key anticolonial force that grounds Indigenous liberation. This work is an attempt to articulate the nature of land as a material, conceptual, and ontological foundation for Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and valuing.As a foundation of valuing, land forms the framework for a conceptualization of Indigenous environmental ethics as an anticolonial force for sovereign Indigenous futures. This text is an important contribution in the efforts to Indigenize Western philosophy, particularly in the context of settler colonialism in the United States. It breaks significant ground in articulating Indigenous ways of knowing and valuing to Western philosophy - not as artifact that Western philosophy can incorporate into its canon, but rather as a force of anticolonial Indigenous liberation.Ultimately, Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land shines light on a possible road for epistemically, ontologically, and morally sovereign Indigenous futures.

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Book SynopsisBlood Flower is a masterful exploration of resilience, love, and the echoes of history, set against the stark beauty of nature and the sharp edges of human conflict. Pamela Uschuk’s poetry weaves a tapestry of intimate personal struggles and broader societal turmoil. Her vivid language captures the visceral textures of life—from the Siberian tundra to family kitchens—and transforms pain, loss, and longing into transcendent art.With themes ranging from the oppressive silences of political exile to the haunting legacies of war, Blood Flower is a poignant tribute to the enduring power of the human spirit. Uschuk’s voice, sharp as a wolf’s howl and tender as a lover’s whisper, invites readers to confront both the scars of the past and the fragile hope of renewal. This is a collection for anyone who dares to seek beauty in the ashes and strength in vulnerability.

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Book SynopsisA dynamic and fresh exploration of the naturalist Mark Catesby—who predated John James Audubon by nearly a century— and his influence on how we understand American wildlife.In 1722, Mark Catesby stepped ashore in Charles Town in the Carolina colony. Over the next four years, this young naturalist made history as he explored deep into America’s natural wonders, collecting and drawing plants and animals which had never been seen back in the Old World. Nine years later Catesby produced his magnificent and groundbreaking book, The Natural History of Carolina, the first-ever illustrated account of American flora and fauna. In Nature’s Messenger, acclaimed writer Patrick Dean follows Catesby from his youth as a landed gentleman in rural England to his early work as a naturalist and his adventurous travels. A pioneer in many ways, Catesby’s careful attention to the knowledge of non-Europeans in America—the enslaved Africans and Native Americans who had their own sources of food and medicine from nature—set him apart from others of his time. Nature’s Messenger takes us from the rice plantations of the Carolina Lowcountry to the bustling coffeehouses of 18th-century England, from the sun-drenched islands of the Bahamas to the austere meeting-rooms of London’s Royal Society, then presided over by Isaac Newton. It was a time of discovery, of intellectual ferment, and of the rise of the British Empire. And there on history’s leading edge, recording the extraordinary and often violent mingling of cultures as well as of nature, was Mark Catesby. Intensively researched and thrillingly told, Nature’s Messenger will thrill fans of exploration and early American history as well as appealing to birdwatchers, botanists, and anyone fascinated by the natural world.Trade Review“In Nature’s Messenger, Catesby is the avatar of an age of explosive discovery and exchange. Catesby was an important scientist whose work prefigured and informed the better known achievements of Audobon and Lenneaus. Thanks to Nature’s Messenger, Catesby’s legacy can now be perused.” -- The Times Literary Supplement"In this enlightening biography, nature writer Dean traces the life of British naturalist Mark Catesby (1683–1749), whose The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands was among the first European accounts of the flora and fauna of the Americas and influenced John James Audubon. An informative account of an important if lesser-known naturalist." -- Publishers Weekly“Nature's Messenger delivers on the promise of its title and subtitle with a tale of adventure in Colonial America and the Caribbean. The messenger is surpassed by his message in this story of a great book — one created by a talented, if enigmatic and largely forgotten, lover of Southern nature.” * The Chattanooga Times Free Press *Praise for A Window to Heaven"A stupendous chronicle. A book whose scope, themes, and drama are worthy of Denali itself." -- Kevin Fedarko, author of THE EMERALD MILE"No matter how many times the Denali story gets told, it never gets old. The trick is to make it new. Outdoors writer Patrick Dean has done just, casting the climb in new light. The story reverberates today. Dean presents Stuck as an imperfect but still commendable model for our own times. We should pay attention." -- David A. James * The Anchorage Daily News *"A rich and sensitive portrait. With grace and clarity Dean reveals Hudson Stuck as a missionary-explorer who was both fully of his time and able to recognize some of its deepest prejudices. Wonderful." -- Niel Shea * National Geographic *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, The Clearing navigates the ever-shifting poles of violence and vulnerability with rich imagination and a singular incisiveness, “asserting feminist viewpoints and mortal terror in lush musical lines” (New York Times). The women in Allison Adair’s debut collection—luminous and electric from the first line to the last—live in places that have been excavated for gold and precious ores. They understand the nature of being hollowed out, of being “the planet’s stone / core as it tries to carve out one secret place and fails.” And so, as these poems take us from the midst of the Civil War to our current era, they chart fairy tales that are at once unsettling and painfully familiar, never forgetting that cruelty compels us to search for tenderness. “What if this time,” they ask, “instead of crumbs the girl drops / teeth, her own, what else does she have.” Adair sees the dirt beneath our nails, both alone and as a country, and pries it gently loose until we remember something of who we are, “from before . . . from a similar injury or kiss.” There is a dark tension in this work, and its product is wholly “an alchemical feat, turning horror into beauty” (Boston Globe).Trade ReviewPraise for The Clearing “The poems in Adair’s debut draw on folklore and the animal world to assert feminist viewpoints and mortal terror in lush musical lines, as when ‘A fat speckled spider sharpens / in the shoe of someone you need.’”—New York Times Book Review, “New & Noteworthy Poetry” “Astonishing and luminous . . . [The Clearing] is an alchemical feat, turning horror into beauty as Adair reveals what surges beneath—the violence, want, grief, thrill, and nameless fury.”—Boston Globe “Adair considers in her imaginative debut the intersection of human and animal life, closely examining the experience of womanhood. . . . Like Grimms’ fairy tales, Adair’s poems are dark without being bleak, hopeless, or disturbing. Readers will find the collection’s lush language and provocative imagery powerfully resonant.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Masterful . . . Juxtaposing somber images from the natural world (a runt rabbit, a strangled swan, a floor of dead birds, a landscape made of a woman’s hair) against seemingly more durable material like bones, chicken wire, rifles, and coins, Adair’s poems take as their central subject emotional and physical violence against women, which in this collection distorts all of life’s natural processes.”—Literary Hub, “Best New Books to Read This Summer” “The opening poem in the collection feels like a fable and nightmare; a scene out of time. ‘We’ll write this story again and again, // how her mouth blooms to its raw venous throat—that tunnel / of marbled wetness, beefy, muted, new pillow for our star // sapphire, our slugging prospecting—and how dark birds come / after, to dress the wounds, no, to peck her sockets clean.’ We leave the poem a little scared, a little curious, and certainly more aware: The Clearing meditates on what is asked of women, and what is taken from them.”—The Millions, “Must-Read Poetry: June 2020” “Adair is capable of a lush lyricism whose beauty is impartial, lighting up the junk of a region, a culture, and a family, its toxic heritage of violence and violation, while haloing the uncluttered space that remains after the mess has been cleared away.”— Los Angeles Review of Books “Electric, brilliant with loss and searching . . . As we read, we are on a journey into the woods with strangers, and The Clearing’s poems capture the beauty and terror of sudden, new site-lines.”—Colorado Review “It’s difficult to believe that The Clearing is Adair’s first full collection of poems. Her once-upon-a-times are generational oral histories, from the Civil War to present day. They will endure, even as the land and these people endure, despite the violence done to it and them, despite the attempts to silence them directly or by neglect. Adair speaks for and through them, allowing their rugged, dented beauty to shine through in exceptional fashion. This assured, layered, altogether extraordinary debut collection will linger in readers’ minds long after the first reading.”—Los Angeles Review “Adair’s lush writing and its underpinning themes of threat, danger, and risk, much of it inherent in the lives of women, make for a nuanced, evocative, and glittering first book.”—RHINO “The poems of The Clearing form an intricate, compelling whole, sensual and musical, haunted (one poem literally featuring a ghost), and committed to focusing on what is often too blurry to see . . . the difficulty of wresting forms of love from forms of violence. . . . The Clearing is a wonderful, exhilarating debut, a book for any who want to live for a while in the realm of the inarticulable.”—Plume “Adair’s poems are set in new stone, a new poetic language for fear, danger, and escape. . . . [Adair] knows that transformation comes from reexamination and reinvention, and she empowers her readers by not only changing the story but reclaiming its protagonists.”—Green Mountains Review “A fiery, magnificent, urgent debut that reminds us of poetry’s ability to clarify perception, create awareness, and make space for us to connect with our authentic selves as we grapple with life’s chaos. Selected by Henri Cole, this book makes room for otherworldly grace, simultaneously allowing us to see the world around us while helping us find our place in it. . . . Adair’s poetry provides shelter where we can pause, ask tough questions, and interact with our mortality through poetic language, compelling imagery, and animated musicality.”—Split Lip Magazine “The Clearing is a book where the process of reading mimics the imagistic architecture. . . . The result is an immersive linguistic world that invites a lingering, engaged contemplation and invites repeated readings and renderings of your own experience into its pages.”—Dasha Bulatova, Empty Mirror “The Clearing traverses chicken-wired landscapes teeming with hunters and wolves, fields empty but for disappointment and danger. Personal trauma is recounted throughout with intimate detail and hard-won wisdom. . . . Her poems unflinchingly face scenes of violence, painful miscarriage, young motherhood, absent men. And as much as The Clearing is a confronting of loss and grief, it’s also a stunning work of reimagining and rebuilding.”—Open Books: A Poem Emporium “In Adair’s stunning debut collection, the verbs are vivid; the metaphors imagistic; the topics ranging through small town secrets, parenthood and childhood, physical love, violence and tragedy. These bold poems are imbued with the grittiness of landscape, biology, geology, and anchored by the recurring motif of searching below the surface like metal detectors or mines for things like fossils and rot, yes, but also veins of gold and memories.”—Ben Groner, Parnassus Books “The Clearing is a lush, lyrical book about a world where women are meant to carry things to safety and men leave decisively. Out of dry farming soil come these wise, mineral-like poems about young motherhood, mining disasters, miscarriages, memory, and much more. Adair’s poems are haunting and dirt caked, but there is also a tense beauty everywhere. I found The Clearing devastating.”—Henri Cole “‘What if this time instead of crumbs the girl drops / teeth, her own, what else does she have.’ So begins Allison Adair’s The Clearing, the title poem leading us, tooth by tooth, line by line, into this dark forest of a book. Adair’s phrases are spell-like, their ingredients mixed in surprising, potent ways: ‘the fat matter of memory,’ a caterpillar’s ‘sad accordion hymn,’ the ‘Gregorian green singing grass.’ I would follow this poet wherever her mind goes—even into the deepest woods, into memories of grief and loss—and I would trust her words to lead me out again. The Clearing is brilliant, gutting, completely original.”—Maggie Smith “Adair dives into motherhood, history, and the now to find the currents—loss, violence, yearning—that keep us afloat, that shipwreck us. Her gaze is clear-eyed, precise, and jarring: ‘The dog’s staph-eaten paw / soaking in a Cool Whip bowl’ and ‘the caterpillar inches along, lost / in its sad accordion hymn.’ Her lyricism is astonishing and her attentiveness to sound dazzles: antlers rub against apple bark, bats drown, and music is struck from anvils. Adair’s sensory-rich language doesn’t reconfigure pain into beauty, though. It does something harder—it forces us to contend with the light and the dark inside each of us.”—Eduardo Corral “Adair’s poems chart the measureless ways that trauma is born of violence and loss while reminding us that tenderness and mercy are descendants of grief. Wise, rapturous, and thicketed with hair-raising imagery, this collection has women wading through landscapes teeming with wolves and real-life danger surreal enough to be remembered, rendered as fable. This effect—this devastatingly beautiful book—lingers off the page. It illuminates itself in the moment and at unexpected hours. The Clearing is an extraordinary debut.”—Marcus WickerTable of ContentsThe Clearing I After the Police Have Been Called Letter to My Niece, in Silverton, Colorado As for the Glossy Green Tractor You Were Miscarriage Week Six of the Fire Self-Portrait as Cenotaph Hitching Debt First Plow at Red Mountain Pass Herr’s Ridge, 1983: A Reenactment Fine Arts Angelus Silverton What We Should Really Be Afraid Of II Fable Ways to Describe a Death Inside Your Own Living Body Mother of 2 Stabbed to Death in Silverton Local Music Gettysburg Advice for the New Mother Crown Cinquain for the Tattooed Man I Refused He Waited for Days As I Near Forty I Think of You Then When Horses Turn Down the Road Letter to My Foundling: #235, Boy Memento Mori: Bell Jar with Suspended Child III Western Slope Whale Fall If Imagination and Memory Met Unexpectedly, One Last Time Morning Tea Mine Fire at Centralia Stopping Over the Arno City Life Flight Theory What Falls Behind No Response Recurring Dream Crown Cinquain for a Lost Child, Eight Years Later At the Park One Day, My Six-Year-Old Asks If Mermaids Are Real The Age We Were Local History River Bone Honey Disaster at Gold King Mine The Big Thinkers RD 8 Box 16A (Rural Route) Bear Fight in Rockaway

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Book SynopsisA personal and engaging tribute to nature from a world-famous theoretical physicist. Marcelo Gleiser has had a passion for science and fishing since he was a boy growing up on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. As a world-famous theoretical physicist with hundreds of scientific articles and several books of popular science to his credit, he felt it was time to once again connect with nature in less theoretical ways. After seeing a fly-fishing class on the Dartmouth College green, he decided to learn to fly-fish, a hobby, he says, that teaches humility. In The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected, Gleiser travels the world to scientific conferences, fishing wherever he goes. At each stop, he ponders the myriad ways physics informs the act of fishing; how, in its turn, fishing serves as a lens into nature's inner workings; and how science engages with questions of meaning and spirituality, inspiring a sense of mystery and awe of the not yet known. Personal and engaging, The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is a scientist's tribute to nature, an affirmation of humanity's deep connection with and debt to Earth, and an exploration of the meaning of existence, from atom to trout to cosmos. This softcover edition features a new essay by Gleiser on how we need a profound change of worldview if we are to have a vibrant future for our species in this fragile environment. He describes how this book was an incubator for his current thinking.Trade Review“You will not learn how to fly fish from this book. You may decide to try it out. Or you may feel inclined to go on your own spiritual journey and reconnect with nature.” * The Citizen (Vermont) *“The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is an elegantly written, introspective, and thought-provoking meditation on growing up as someone curious about the universe. It’s a wonderful introduction to the human side of science and the scientific side of being human.” -- Sean Carroll, author of The Big PictureTable of ContentsPrologue 1 Cumbria, Lake District, UK 2 Sao Jose Dos Ausentes, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil 3 Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy 4 Laxa River, Myvatnssveit, Iceland Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisOn a second wave of anti-colonial revolutions. State and Capital reign over the Age of Sorrow. We face inequality, pandemics, ethnocide, climate crisis, and mass extinction. Our desire for security and power governs us as State. Our desire for possessions governs us as Capital. Our desires imprison and rule us beings as Unbeing. Yet, from Nagaland to New Zealand, Bhutan to Bolivia, a second wave of anti-colonial revolutions has begun. Arising from assemblies of humans and other-than-humans, these revolutions replace possessive individualism with non-exploitative interdependence. Naga elders, Bhutanese herders and other indigenous communities, feminists, poets, seers, yaks, cranes, vultures, and fungi haunt this pamphlet. The original Subaltern Studies narrated how Indian peasant communities destroyed the British empire. Subaltern Studies 2.0 prophesies the multi-being demos and liberates Being from Unbeing. Re-kin, Re-nomad, Re-animate, Re-wild! The Animist Revolution has come. Table of Contentsi. Who Speaks?ii. War of Unbeing against Beingiii. A New Anti-Colonial Struggleiv. The Age of Sorrowv. The Evil Twins: Sovereignty and Propertyvi. The Subjection of Beingvii. Once When there was No State, No Capitalviii. The Monstrosity of State and Capitalix. Capital Colonizes Beingx. The Age of Deathxi. The Rise and Fall of Subaltern Studiesxii. The Failures of Global History and of Anthropologyxiii. To Arms: A New Academia for a Renewed Warxiv. Enough with Welfare-State Capitalismxv. Enough with Monstrous Abstractions!xvi. Where Marx Went Wrong!xvii. The Degeneration of Speechxviii. The Poetry of Revolutionxix. Enough of “Postmodern” Suspicion of Being! xx. The Road Back to Beingxxi. Dismantle State, Overthrow Capital!xxii. For Permanent Revolution, Permanent Community!xxiii. Enough with Atomized Individualism!xxiv. Not Universal Class, but Communities in Solidarity!xxv. Being Shines in Subaltern Consciousnessxxvi. Against Possessive Man, Being!xxvii. Difference-into-Unity!xxviii. Being a World for Othersxxix. Animals: Primal Instructors of Humansxxx. The Light of Being-Consciousnessxxxi. Once When Animals Could Speakxxxii. Animal Democracy – The World’s Oldest Politiesxxxiii. The First Imperialism: Human Colonization of Animal Politiesxxxiv. Decolonize Animal Polities!xxxv. Multi-Being Demos, Constitution to Comexxxvi. Return, Ancient Constitution – What Was, Shall Again Be!xxxvii. Fungal Organization – Being inside Beings is the Being within Mexxxviii. Fungal Democracy – Fungal Internationalismxxxix. Rooted Interdependence – Ancient Being, Return, Restore! xl. Beings in Assembly – Multi-Being Demosxli. The Vanquishing of Unbeingxlii. Beings Turn the Wheel of Lawxliii. The Constitution of the Cosmosxliv. Turn I: Rekinxlv. Turn II: Renomadxlvi. Turn III: Reanimatexlvii. Turn IV: Rewildxlviii. Being TriumphantXlix. Exhortation: Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: The Next Steps: A Prefacel. Exhortation: Marisol de la Cadena: The Gift of the Anthropo-not-seenli. Exhortation: Thom van Dooren: Animal Lessonslii. Exhortation: Suraj Yengde: Supreme Subalterns

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Book Synopsis'In this excellent book, Ecott's evocative telling makes me want to go to this weird and wonderful place.' - PAUL THEROUX'I never want to leave the remote island world so atmospherically, precisely educed between the covers of this book. Ecott's prose has the power of tides, his perception is as searching as the Atlantic wind, and he has the soul of a natural-born naturalist. A masterpiece.' - JOHN LEWIS-STEMPLEFollowing the natural cycle of the year, The Land of Maybe captures the essence of 'slow life' on the 18 remote, mysterious islands which make up the Faroes in the North Atlantic. Closer to the UK than Denmark, this fast disappearing world is home to a close-knit society where just 50,000 people share Viking roots and a language that is unlike any other in Scandinavia.We follow the arrival of the migratory birds, the over-wintering of the sheep and the way food is gathered and eaten in tune with the seasons. Buffeted by the weather and the demands of a volatile natural environment, people still hunt seabirds and herd pilot whales for a significant portion of their basic food needs.This is not a travelogue, but a deeper exploration of how 'to be' in a tough landscape; a study of a people and a way of life that represents continuity and a deep connection to the past. The Land of Maybe offers not just a refuge from the freneticism of modern life, but lessons about where we come from and how we may find a balance in our lives.Trade ReviewThe tough, mystical, intangible character of the Faroes is captured by Ecott's gorgeously rich and descriptive writing that makes you believe you can smell the sea, hear the birds and feel the wind. A beautiful and evocative read. * Kate Humble *This is Ecott at his best. His prose is incisive and elegiac. From the book's opening line we are there among the gannets, the pilot whales and sea-butted cliffs, wrestling with the winds and the enigma that is this Land of Maybe. Absorbing stuff, full of the ancient lore and very modern predicaments that daily beset the proud Faroese on their rocky outpost. * Benedict Allen *Filled with loving detail, humour and heart The Land of Maybe is a lyrical treat. Tim Ecott has created a raven-haunted love song to the intimate insecurity of island living and the salt-caked, tightly-braided culture of the Faroes. * A.L. Kennedy *In a hot and, for many, fraught summer, these dispatches from the wind and salt-blown islands at 62 degrees north offer delicious escapism. A beautiful evocation of landscape and nature, it is, above all, a portrait of a community which maintains a deep connection with its past. * Financial Times *Ecott's fine book is, at root, a timely meditation on the clash between modernity and premodernity and between settler and nomad. It's an interrogation of the role of compassion in our moral lives and an examination of the crucial question of what sort of creatures we are. -- Charles Foster * The Oldie *I never want to leave the remote island world so atmospherically, precisely educed between the covers of this book. Ecott's prose has the power of tides, his perception is as searching as the Atlantic wind, and he has the soul of a natural-born naturalist. A masterpiece. * John Lewis-Stemple *Engaging and energetic * Times Literary Supplement *In this excellent book, Ecott's evocative telling makes me want to go to this weird and wonderful place. * Paul Theroux *

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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 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 SynopsisFloral stylist Willow Crossley presents 50 uplifting projects to help you bring nature into your home. In Inspire: The Art of Living with Nature, Willow embraces her passion for plants and shows how to use both flower-shop purchases, beachcombing bounty, home-grown harvests and hedgerow finds foraged on countryside walks to decorate your home. Divided into five chapters on Woodland, Flora, Fauna, Edibles and Beach, here are more than 50 ideas ranging from hellebores displayed in test tubes to a wreath made from hydrangeas, spring narcissi planted in wooden wine boxes, a tabletop display incorporating apples and pears, displays of pebbles, coral and shells, sea urchins fashioned into napkin rings, hollowed-out red cabbages used as vases, a colourful posy of chillies and a stylish wall display of antlers and feathers.

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Book SynopsisThe British Wildlife Photography Awards is a celebration of British natural history. This stunning collection of winning and shortlisted images documents nature across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Book SynopsisFarming – whether domestic crops, forestry, fish or livestock – is one of the pillars of human civilization, dating back to the early settlements of Neolithic times. Today, approximately one billion people work the land, providing food and other products for our ever-increasing human population. Arranged geographically, Farming explores the many types of farm and farming that exist today. See how farmers in Malaysia extract milky latex from the bark of rubber trees, used to make everything from protective gloves to vehicle tires; be amazed at the gorgeous stepped rice fields of Bali, where the traditional subak irrigation system is created around ‘water temples’ and managed by Hindu priests; marvel at the vast corn and soya bean fields of Ontario, much of it used for animal feed to support Canada’s beef industry; learn about nomadic pastoralism in low rainfall areas such as Somalia, where herders move camels, cattle, sheep and goats in search of grazing; explore the wineries and vineyards in Bordeaux, where more than 700 million bottles of wine are produced each year by more than 8,500 châteaux; and see how freshwater prawns are harvested for export in the watery deltas of Bangladesh. Presented in a landscape format and with more than 180 outstanding photographs of farming from every part of the planet, Farming offers a pictorial celebration of mankind’s deep connection with the land that sustains us.Table of ContentsContents include: Europe • Livestock farming, cows and sheep – Germany, France • Dairy farming – everywhere • Fruit farming – Kent • Hop farms and oast houses – Kent • Hill farming – Wales • High tunnel greenhouses • Wind farms • Oranges, apricots, lemons – Spain • Wineries and vineyards – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece • Champagne, France – largest farms in France North America • Cattle ranches • Arable crops – Midwest • Peanut farms – Georgia • Aquaponics • Fruits, vegetables, and nuts –Salinas valley, California • Corn belt – Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, southern Michigan, western Ohio • Wheat belt – from Alberta tocentral Texas • Cotton and tobacco farming – Deep South • Catfish farm, Mississippi • Scallop farms, Vancouver Island • Cattle, grains and oilseeds – Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan • Wild berries, caribou, musk, ox – Nunavut Central & South America • Sugarcane, coffee, soybeans – Brazil • Cattle ranches – Argentina • Cocoa – Ecuador • Coffee, cocoa, plantation – Columbia • Vineyards – Chile, Argentina • Andean farming – maize, potatoes Africa and the Middle East • Nomadic herding – Saharan Africa (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Libya, Algeria) • Farming around the Nile – crop rotation, corn (maize), rice, wheat, sorghum, and fava • Citrus, wine, table grapes, corn and wool – South Africa • Tea, coffee – Kenya • Cocoa – Ivory Coast and Ghana • Maize and cassava – Nigeria Asia and the Pacific • Poppy farms – Afghanistan • Fruit farms – Afghanistan • Dry farming – India, Iran • Tea plantations – India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia • Rubber plantations – Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia • Rice cultivation – China, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam • Bali – subak irrigation system and water temples • Sugarcane, cassava (manioc), corn (maize), sweet potatoes – Vietnam • Sorghum farming – China • Fish farms – Fujian coast, China • Tilapia pens in Laguna de Bay, Philippines • Slash-and-burn – Indonesia • Subsistence farming – China, India, Nepal • Fish farms – India, Bangladesh, Thailand • Cocoa – Indonesia • Palm oil – Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo • Coconut farming – Malaysia, Thailand • Vertical farming – Japan • Sugarcane – Queensland • Stock farming – Australia • Wheat, barley, chickpeas – Australia

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Book SynopsisIf we could see it as a whole, if they all arrived in a single flock, say, we would be truly amazed: sixteen million birds. Swallows, martins, swifts, warblers, wagtails, wheatears, cuckoos, chats, nightingales, nightjars, thrushes, pipits and flycatchers pouring into Britain from sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of the enduring wonders of the natural world. Each bird faces the most daunting of journeys -navigating epic distances, dependent on bodily fuel reserves. Yet none can refuse. Since pterodactyls flew, twice-yearly odysseys have been the lot of migrant birds. For us, for millennia, the Great Arrival has been celebrated. From The Song of Solomon, through Keats' Ode To a Nightingale, to our thrill at hearing the first cuckoo call each year, the spring-bringers are timeless heralds of shared seasonal joy. Yet, migrant birds are finding it increasingly hard to make the perilous journeys across the African desert. Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo is a moving call to arms by an impassioned expert: get outside, teach your children about these birds, don't let them disappear from our shores and hearts.Trade ReviewA beautiful and important book * Simon Barnes, author of HOW TO BE A BAD BIRDWATCHER *'We owe a debt to a writer like McCarthy, who paints so well the portrait of natural riches we think our birthright ... McCarthy paints a portrait of a magical bird universe' * Daily Mail *'This is a joyful book' * Daily Express *'Michael McCarthy is one of the best environmental journalists there is' * Sunday Telegraph *'This is a valuable guide to what we'll soon miss' * Geographical Magazine *'This is the most important book I have read for a long time ... it boils with enthusiasm ... many will greatly enjoy the rich and informative prose ... to not read this book is a crime against conservation and the cost is almost beyond comprehension' * BBC Countryfile Magazine *A stark picture of the fate of migratory birds * BBC Country File Magazine *'This book could easily have been a grim litany of despair ... instead Michael McCarthy has taken the opportunity to celebrate our summer migrants ... this book reminds us of what we stand to lose and why we cannot afford to take the cuckoo for granted' * BBC Wildlife *'An impassioned hymn to the wonder of the annual display of migrating birds and a robust warning' * Metro *'A rich ornithological tapestry ... buy this book, enjoy it' * Ian Wallace, British Birds *'One of my heroes - writer Mike McCarthy - paints an all too harrowing picture of a landscape robbed of this iconic sound in his new tour de force Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo' * Sunday Express *'McCarthy spent the spring of 2008 following the "spring-bringers" . . . and celebrates them so eloquently here you will never see or hear them in the same way again . . . cherish them now' * Evening Standard *'A timely report from the edge of the natural world that is being eroded by ignorance and carelessness' * The Times *'An interesting book . . . Quirky observations, laced with historical and literary references, enliven the text' * Irish Examiner *'The titles sounds like an elegy, but the tone, until near the end, is upbeat and celebratory . . . he tells the story . . . with a light touch and wide open eyes' * Independent *'An environmental warning' * Terry Sutton, Dover Express & Folkestone Herald *'McCarthy builds up the magic ... rightly McCarthy is out to warn' * The Tablet *'This timely book by Michael McCarthy, one of the country's leading writers on the environment, is a celebration of these migratory birds and a call to arms to help preserve them' * National Trust Magazine *As well as raising the alarm, Michael McCarthy writes lyrically in praise of the songsters * Choice Magazine *'Lovely but heart-tugging book ... McCarthy's theme is twofold: to give us a vivid picture of what we have learned scientifically about birds themselves, but then beautifully to interweave it with the "human response'" * Spectator *'We have been warned' * Northern Echo *'Wake-up call to all those concerned with the UK's environment, calling for action before it's too late' * Your Birding Monthly *'The book does not just raise the alarm about the astonishing declines. It clebrates the migrant birds as a group, stressing the enormous cultural resonance they have across Europe' * Best of British *'Courageously, McCarthy's book is a celebration as much as a warning' * Tribune *'You must have and read this book' * Highland News & North Star *

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Along our shores, towering cliffs from the age of the dinosaurs rise beside wide estuaries teeming with wildlife, while Victorian ports share waterfronts with imposing fortifications.And the people who have lived, worked and played on this spectacular coast - from Stone Age fishermen to seafarers, chart-makers and surfers - have an incredible tale to tell.Coast: Our Island Story is an enthralling account, sparkling with geography, history, adventure and eccentric characters, told with Nick Crane's trademark charisma and wit.

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Book SynopsisSpring is nature's season of rebirth and rejuvenation. Earth's northern hemisphere tilts towards the sun, winter yields to intensifying light and warmth, and a wild, elemental beauty transforms the Highland landscape and a repertoire of islands from Colonsay to Lindisfarne. Jim Crumley chronicles the wonder, tumult and spectacle of that transformation, but he shows too that it is no Wordsworthian idyll that unfolds. Climate chaos brings unwanted drama to the lives of badger and fox, seal and seabird and raptor, pine marten and sand martin. Jim lays bare the impact of global warming and urges us all towards a more daring conservation vision that embraces everything from the mountain treeline to a second spring for the wolf.Trade ReviewA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK; "There are books that transport us and Jim Crumley's ode to spring takes us there on the wings of a sea eagle ... Exquisitely observed ... uplifting and disquieting ... Crumley's masterful words take you into the canvas of nature as into the work of a grand master ... The joy, the passion, the complete understanding Jim has for his world is a portal. The world on our doorstep." Scottish Book of the Week, The Courier; "Nature writer and poet Jim Crumley returns with a third volume of close observations [and] charts the arrival of spring, from the February song of a mistle thrush to May's drowsy warmth. Crumley quotes Margiad Evans - 'Write in the very now where you find yourself' - and takes her advice to heart." New Statesman; "This thought-inducing paean to nature brings the issues of the natural world to the forefront ... Crumley writes movingly about the season of rebirth and transformation which sees the hibernators awaken and the daffodils rise. A wonderful read." Kirstin Tait, Scottish Field; "A fantastic writer ... exquisite observations of details in the landscape as well as sweeping vistas ... remarkable." Ben Hoare, BBC Countryfile magazine; "Compelling ... Radical ... Crumley writes of the creatures and landscape before him like a James Guthrie or Landseer of print ... He could be Ali Smith's naturalist twin." Rosemary Goring, Scottish Review of Books; "Beautifully written ... thoughtful and thought-provoking ... Jim Crumley does not shy away from the important issues facing the natural world [in] a book you'd like to think could have real influence on the world we live in." Undiscovered Scotland; Praise for Jim Crumley's writing: Wainwright Golden Beer Prize 2017, LONGLISTED (The Nature of Autumn); The Richard Jeffries Society & White Horse Bookshop Literary Prize for nature writing, SHORTLISTED; "A delightful meditation." Stephen Moss, Books of the Year, Guardian; "Nature writing is like trying to catch birds with cobwebs. Crumley's just has a higher tensile strength than most." Herald; "Breathtaking...This nature book is a delight...words that freshen and sparkle the everyday world and sprinkle warmth and colour into the heart of it." Miriam Darlington, BBC Wildlife; "Enchanting." Sara Maitland; "A passionate, compelling, very personal work... the honesty of his voice is striking." Scottish Review of Books; "Enthralling and often strident." ObserverTable of ContentsPart One: Harbingers; Chapter One: First Syllables; Chapter Two: Falcons of the Yellow Hill; Chapter Three: The Backward Spring; Chapter Four: The; Mountaineering Badger; Part Two: Island Spring; Chapter Five: The Nature of Second Spring; Chapter Six: Forty-eight Hours on Colonsay; Chapter Seven: Yell – No Need of Dreams; Chapter Eight: An Island Pilgrimage (1) – Mull and Iona; Chapter Nine: An Island Pilgrimage (2) – Lismore to Islandshire; Chapter Ten: An Island Pilgrimage (3) – Lindisfarne, Nature’s Island; Chapter Eleven: May in June; Part Three: Highland Spring Chapter Twelve: Glen Clova and the Definite Article; Chapter Thirteen: The Poetry of Mountain Flowers; Chapter Fourteen: The Sanctuary (1) – A Second Spring for the Wolf; Chapter Fifteen: The Sanctuary (2) – Loch Tulla; Chapter Sixteen: The Properties of Mercury; Chapter Seventeen: Renaissance

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Book SynopsisA book about the climate change...from a totally different vantage point: Everything is based on energy! Everything that in the times of times was inflicted and added onto the Earth, onto nature, the animals and plants, the waters and oceans, the atmosphere and the people, in terms of suffering and cruelties, crimes upon crimes, everything that was not amended, are unatoned energies in, on and above the Earth. The climate change brings a dark and long cortege of denouncements, which is emerging, for the Planet Earth has been groaning since having to bear human beings.However, depending on the corresponding country, the chapter of long darkness on this Earththe climate changewill gradually brighten, and it will grow sunnier, because the Earth will also become more light-filled. An Earth that becomes more light-filled signifies the spiritual dawn and the beginning of the New Era. People of the New Era find the true God in their peace-loving nature and, on the new Earth, build the Kingdom of Peace under the Sign of the LilySophiathe purity and freedom of the love for God and neighbor.An excerpt:The exorbitant abuse of energiesand this, from the very beginninghas not been nullified, for energy cannot be lost, neither the energies from yesterday nor those of today.

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