Category: Book review

Good morning Mark, Just writing to thank you for the excellent ‘A message from Martha‘ which I have just finished reading this morning (I know it’s been around a while – I’ve been busy!). I’ve never been particularly excited by pigeons – especially dead ones- but I was stirred to read your book partly by…

This is a very good book by an expert. For those of us whose knowledge and understanding of the natural world is highly slanted towards feathered vertebrates this book helps to put things in perspective. The argument is that we need insects, and if we don’t look after them there will be consequences for us….

I don’t see many Goshawks, and so I was interested to read about film cameraman James Aldred’s experiences filming this species for much of the spring and summer of 2020. Spending so much time with this bird would make it ‘a season unlike any other’ for most of us but it was also a season…

In Japan they have 72 seasons we learn – each of 5-6 days – which is quite a thing to find out. Japan has four main seasons, each divided into six subsections, and each of those has three parts. That’s fascinating, and forms the framework into which Lev Parikian plugs his light-hearted but accurate observations…

I enjoyed this book hugely – and rather more than I thought I might. Was I really interested in one large insect with a rather spooky pattern on its thorax? Well, yes I was as it turns out but this is really a book about perceptions, and that is a fascinating subject. Because of its…