Description
Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE WAINRIGHT PRIZE & SHORTLISTED FOR THE RICHARD JEFFERIES AWARD
''A daring, delightful and galvanising call to save the world, one plant at a time'' Bookseller, Editor''s Choice
TEN YEARS AGO, BEN JACOB TURNED OUTLAW TO SAVE OUR RAREST FLOWERS. THIS IS HIS STORY.
Obsessed by orchids since childhood, Ben spent years travelling to far-flung jungles to see them in the wild. Then a chance encounter set him off on a journey of discovery into the wonderful, but often forgotten, world of Britain''s fifty-one native species. These include the Bee which looks (and smells) so much like one that even bees are fooled, the Ghost which exists without sunlight, and Autumn Lady''s Tresses which gave Darwin the proof he needed for his theory of evolution.
But our orchids are in desperate trouble. Many species are facing extinction. Decimated by changes in land use and climate, inadequately protected by environmental and planning laws, their
Trade Review
A daring, delightful and galvanising call to save the world, one plant at a time * The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice *
It's noble work in a time of great change. The Orchid Outlaw urges us to look closer and tread more carefully -- Alice Vincent * New Statesman *
If this doesn't turn into one of the most talked about nature books of the year, I'll eat my hat. Brilliantly written, urgent and brave -- Lee Schofield, author of WILD FELL
A vivid love letter to Britain's wild orchids . . . Ben Jacob breaks all the rules with enormous success -- FRANCIS PRYOR, Time Team and author of THE MAKING OF THE BRITISH LANDSCAPE
The Orchid Outlaw . . . offers captivating descriptions of pre-dawn forays on to private land where housing developments will soon obliterate colonies of precious orchids * Financial Times, Best new books on climate and the environment *
The book is written with a skip and drama, and will leave you furious that these strange and delicate plants have been so neglected * Mail on Sunday *
A brave, timely and inspiring example of how to exercise our moral obligation to care for the non-human beings we share the world with. The Orchid Outlaw is an empowering tonic to the environmental despair evoked by the lack of leadership from our lawmakers -- Leif Bersweden, author of Where the Wild Flowers Grow
