This is, in my opinion (and why are you reading this review if you don’t want my opinion?), Benedict Macdonald’s best book to date. Yes, Rebirding (reviewed here) was a very good book, and Orchard (with Nicholas Gates, reviewed here) was perfectly OK, but this is a very, very good book. Nine groups of species:…
Tag: bloomsbury
Sunday book review – Field Guide to Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises by Mark Carwardine
I went to a talk at the 2018 Bird Fair by the author when he talked about the preparation of this book – and now here it is. It’s a fine field guide. And it really is a field guide – a slim volume that can easily be pocketed in a coat and brought out…
Published today – The Trespasser’s Companion by Nick Hayes
This is a follow-up to the same author’s Book of Trespass from 2020 – see review here – and just as I loved the first book I love this one too. Perhaps even more so. It’s a book with attitude, and I like that. I also agree with a great deal of it, although even…
Sunday book review – Ants by Richard Jones
I’ve praised this series of books before (see here), and I have to do so again. They are beautifully produced with lots of wonderful photographs and other images that are superbly reproduced and laid out on the pages. When you pick up one of this series you are struck by its weight and, as you…
Sunday book review – Butterflies by Martin Warren
Arguably, there are too many natural history books published these days – but this isn’t one of the surplus. This is an excellent read and packed full of information from an acknowledged expert of many years standing. Martin Warren is the former Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation (I was actually on the interview panel which…
Sunday book review – The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes
This is my type of book. In fact, you could say it is right up my street given the quote on page 121 which points out that the Boughton Estate now sells firewood back to the commoners at £95 per cubic metre when once it was a right to collect such wood. That’s the source…
Sunday book review – His Imperial Majesty by Matthew Oates
This is a good summery book about arguably our most spectacular of butterflies, the Purple Emperor. The author is an expert on this species and an unrestrained and unrestrainable enthusiast for this butterfly. And that makes this a very good book, packed with stories, anecdotes, history but also with good solid facts. And all wrapped…
Sunday book review – Rocky Shores by John Archer-Thomson and Julian Cremona
Comments Off on Sunday book review – Rocky Shores by John Archer-Thomson and Julian Cremona
This is a lovely book and makes me wish that my adopted county of Northamptonshire had some coastline, and rocky shores at that, to which I could rush to explore some rockpools with my newly gained knowledge. The Bloomsbury Wildlife series might possibly be seen as a competing series of books to the Collins New…
Sunday book review – Climate Change and British Wildlife by Trevor Beebee
Comments Off on 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….
Bank Holiday Monday book review – Beyond Spring by Matthew Oates
Comments Off on Bank Holiday Monday book review – Beyond Spring by Matthew Oates
Reviewed by Ian Carter Having read his previous book describing a lifetime of watching, studying and obsessing about butterflies I was looking forward to this one. Thankfully, it shares many similarities, not least the in-depth knowledge, warmth and humour in the writing – it’s not often you catch yourself laughing out loud at a natural…