{"product_id":"in-pursuit-of-butterflies-9781472992185","title":"In Pursuit of Butterflies","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe butterflies of Britain, in the words of one of their greatest champions.\u003c\/b\u003eMatthew Oates has led a butterflying life. Naturalist, conservationist   and passionate lover of poetry, he has devoted himself to these exalted  creatures: to their observation, to singing their praises, and to  ensuring their survival. Based on fifty years of detailed diaries, \u003ci\u003eIn Pursuit of Butterflies\u003c\/i\u003e is the chronicle of this life. Oates leads  the reader through a lifetime of butterflying, across the  mountain tops,  the peat bogs, sea cliffs, meadows, heaths, the chalk  downs and great forests of the British Isles. Full of humour, zeal,  digression, expertise and anecdote, this book provides a profound  encounter with one of our great butterfly lovers, and with a  half-century of butterflies in Britain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOates ... writes entrancingly, with the sunniest good humour. His book, with its old-school, loving erudition, is nature-writing of the sort that never goes out of fashion. * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis book is an infectious, instantly joyful love song to butterflies ...                   Written in prose as delicate and enticing as the creatures themselves, this read will release your inner flutter. -- Miriam Darlington * BBC Wildlife *\u003cbr\u003eA joy to read, bubbling with knowledge, enthusiasm and insight. * Robert Macfarlane *\u003cbr\u003e... a memoir which is knowledgeable, cultured and a welcome throwback to a gently comic kind of English nature writing. * The Independent *\u003cbr\u003eOates is unquestionably authentic and his voice is vivid, witty and unapologetic ... his writing is suffused with a love for the spirit of the English countryside. * The Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eLyrical, eccentric, charming and historical, \u003ci\u003eIn Pursuit of Butterflies\u003c\/i\u003e is altogether unique. * Butterfly magazine *\u003cbr\u003eOne of the best summaries of why nature matters and how we should all care. * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eThe writing is perfectly judged, combining a gift for story-telling and for conveying fact with an ever-present sensitivity and self-awareness. There is the author’s own poetry too, deeply felt and beautifully crafted. * Rare Bird Alert *\u003cbr\u003eIt reminded me of my childhood delight in butterflies - and indeed rekindled it. -- Helen Hewett * Cotswolds Life *\u003cbr\u003eWhen the weather turns stormy and the butterfly year is over I can turn to this book and be enchanted once again and dream of days to come next year. * Pembrokeshire Life *\u003cbr\u003eHe [Oates] writes with lyrical affection about the wonderful variety of British butterflies and moths... His enthusiasm is never less than inspiring. * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eIt is his infectious enthusiasm as much as his deep knowledge that makes the book so worthwhile ... He writes entrancingly, with the sunniest good humour. His book, with its old-school, almost loving erudition, is nature-writing of the sort that never goes out of fashion. * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e 1 Starting out 2 \u003ci\u003eLaudator temporis acti\u003c\/i\u003e 3 Escape to the woods 4 Rebellion 5 Into the green  \u003cb\u003eA digression, into names\u003c\/b\u003e 6 Desperately seeking Rima 7 Walden 8 The long hot summer of 1976 9 The legacy of 1976  \u003cb\u003eAlice Holt Forest\u003c\/b\u003e 10 Out of the seventies  \u003cb\u003eWinter\u003c\/b\u003e 11 In and out of war: the early 1980s  \u003cb\u003eNoar Hill\u003c\/b\u003e 12 The return of the wanderer 13 Nineteen eighty-four and all that 14 A time of discovery  \u003cb\u003eAutumn\u003c\/b\u003e 15 High-blown years: the Great Storm and afterwards 16 Paradise regained: the great summer of 1989  \u003cb\u003eSpring\u003c\/b\u003e 17 Spring perfected 18 Moving on 19 High adventures in the mid-1990s  \u003cb\u003eThe New Forest\u003c\/b\u003e 20 Summer of the Painted Lady 21 Leaving the nineties 22 Time out of time 23 The Emperor’s return 24 Hairstreaks to the fore  \u003cb\u003eSome Cotswold places\u003c\/b\u003e 25 Of Iris and Adonis 26 A fall from grace  \u003cb\u003eSummer\u003c\/b\u003e 27 A tale of two butterflies 28 Adventures with caterpillars  \u003cb\u003eSavernake Forest\u003c\/b\u003e 29 It rained…  30 Fifty years on  \u003cb\u003eTowards some meaning\u003c\/b\u003e Afterword: On Marlpost Road Butterflies of the year  \u003ci\u003eBibliography List of illustrations Acknowledgements Index of butterfly species General index\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408797213015,"sku":"9781472992185","price":12.34,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/in-pursuit-of-butterflies-9781472992185","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}