Standing up for Nature
Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! from the pen of Stephen Moss. Partridges in pear trees, Colly Birds, large flocks of Turtle Doves and swans and geese – but where do all the other species come from? Stephen Moss uses his wit and wisdom to retrofit a bunch of birds to the Christmas carol and does…
This blog has reviewed 25 books this year (and many thanks to Ian Carter for his reviews). My selection of the ‘top 5’ books of the year is as follows; Number 5 A beautifully produced book about beautiful habitats which are so much rarer now than in the past. See my review here. Number 4…
This novel is set on the fictional Scottish island of Morvan and set amongst the hill walkers and shooting estate folk who enjoy this landscape. It’s a good yarn and I enjoyed reading it. When I tell you that the land owner is called Lord Purdey and he has a couple of unsympathetic criminal gamekeepers,…
Stephen Moss has written a round-up of nature books for many years and this is the second year when it has appeared here on this blog. Stephen is course leader of the MA Travel & Nature Writing at Bath Spa University. His latest book, The Twelve Birds of Christmas, is published by Square Peg (£12.99)….
What’s the first word that pops into your head when you hear the name Neville Chamberlain? Was it ‘appeasement’? Or ‘Piece of paper’? Or maybe ‘Peace for our time’? Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was well-meaning but, in retrospect (and to be fair, at the time, in the minds of many), was fatally flawed. It didn’t…
This book is cheap – so it’s not a big risk to buy one! And all royalties go to support creative campaigning for environmental justice. It’s an anthology of writing (poems and short essays) about the environmental state we’re in organised in sections: Love, Loss, Emergence, Hope and Action, and with a foreword by Emma…
I’m no botanist, so for all I know this book could be riddled with awful errors, but it is a lovely, lovely book. In a 400-page book, 300 of the pages are given over to about 100 species accounts; each with a distribution map, a photograph of the species, a photograph of the habitat and…
This is a well-written book and there is much to be enjoyed within its pages. If I am ever on a long coach ride from Victoria coach station (they do crop up in the book) and find myself sitting next to the author I feel we could have a good chat. There is lots of…
This is an attractive book about butterflies written by one of the leading young nature enthusiasts. Rebecca’s seen one more butterfly species in her garden than I have in mine so I am envious of her knowledge and good fortune. This book – the first of many? – concentrates on the Small White Butterfly. This…
Review by Lyn Ebbs When I see that the subtitle of a book contains the word ‘year’, especially a book about wildlife, I’ve come to expect a 12-month chase around the country (or the world) in pursuit of a complete list of some type of animal or a heroic battle against a deadline to create…