Sunday book review – On the Marshes by Carol Donaldson

Reviewed by Ian Carter I’ve always liked books about alternative lifestyles, especially by people seeking out a gentler pace of life, more attuned to the natural environment. This is a good example and it’s a book I gradually warmed to as the author’s journey across the North Kent Marshes (contrary to the sub-title) unfolds.  In…

Sunday book review – Climate Change and British Wildlife by Trevor Beebee

This is an appropriately weighty book on a portentous subject. It is very attractively produced with many photographs of wildlife, habitats and people and a fine looking jacket by Carry Akroyd (although the jacket on my copy is slightly ill-fitting).  The index is very good but the reference list is rather shorter than I expected….

Sunday book review – Landfill by Tim Dee

OK, so this book isn’t about landfill (although it is  a bit).  It is a book about gulls (but not just about gulls) and it is a book about the author (but not just about the author) and it is about Bristol (but not just about Bristol). And at this point I have to state…

Sunday book review – Riverwatch by Mark Everard

This book by an ecologist and keen angler, is a series of short essays about life by, on and in the river through the year.  It focuses on riverine processes and ecology, and flows very well. Each of the 60 short essays, five for each month, also has an illustration from the author.  And he…

Book review: Bats by Nancy Jennings

I like these RSPB Spotlight books (see reviews of Kingfishers and Bumblebees). This one is about bats. It’s quite a wide-ranging book with information about the 17 UK species but also about a range of the world’s other 1400 bats. It’s understandable that we don’t know a huge amount about bats – they are nocturnal,…