'So, so good! ... More gems than a pirate's chest ... science, art, history, culture - it's epic and mammoth, a repository of all our truths through their lives' Chris PackhamA powerful and fascinating insight into the 100 animals - from the blue whale to the mosquito - that have had the biggest influence on humanity through the ages.We are not alone. We are not alone on the planet. We are not alone in the countryside. We ar...

'He does write beautifully, especially of his greatest love - our wild birds ... On The Marsh is a delightful read.' Christopher Hart, Daily MailHow the rewilding of eight acres of Norfolk marshland inspired a family and brought nature even closer to home.When writer Simon Barnes heard a Cetti's warbler sing out as he turned up to look at a house for sale, he knew immediately that he had f...

'Such a simple, clever book.' Rosemary Goring, The HeraldWe're not just losing the wild world. We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing.But we can make hidden things visible, and this book features 23 spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home.Mammals you never knew existed will enter your world. Birds hidden in treetops wi...

Chosen by WATERSTONES as one of their BEST NATURE WRITING BOOKS of 2024Can you tell a tomato from a grape? Lawn from an oak tree? Then congratulations - you are a botanist.Self-confessed bad birdwatcher Simon Barnes thought he knew nothing about plants. He didn't object to them: trees are interesting, because birds perch in them; plants are useful as they create habitats and birds live in habitats. But while admiring the tenacity of some sea kale and yellow...

From the acclaimed author of Rewild Yourself comes a brilliant new book that reveals the natural joys to be discovered on your doorstep.In the autumn of 2020, Simon Barnes should have been leading a safari in Zambia, but Covid restrictions meant his plans had to be put on hold. Instead, he embarked on the only voyage of discovery that was still open to him. He walked to a folding chair at the bottom of his garden, and sat down. His itinerary: to sit in tha...

"Most of us can see, but not everyone looks. Most of us can hear, but not everyone listens. This book will help you do both. And, above all, it will tell you how to enjoy." Bill Oddie"He'll tune your ears to winter's lonely voices - robins, wrens, long-tailed tits - before preparing you for the exultant sounds of spring." The TimesLearning to identify birdsong is not just a way to become a better bird-spotter. It is tuning in: ...

THE BESTSELLING BIRDWATCHING CLASSIC - 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION'A delightful ode to the wild world outside the kitchen window - leaves you with the warm feeling that a shared love conquers all' The Daily TelegraphLook out the window. See a bird. Enjoy it. CONGRATULATIONS! You are now a bad birdwatcher.Anyone who has ever gazed up at the sky or stared out of the window knows something about birds. In this fu...

We are all wild. It's just that civilisation keeps getting in the way. And the more civilised we become, the more we need the wild: wild places, wild creatures, and wild experiences. As every one who has patted a dog, smelled a rose, taken a walk, or even had a drink in the garden well knows, humans have a soul-deep need for non-human forms of life. This book is about pushing our birthright of wildness just that little bit further. In "How to be Wild", Barnes takes us on a journey through ...

Life on planet earth is not weirder than we imagine. It"s weirder than we are capable of imagining. In this breathtakingly audacious book, Simon Barnes opens our eyes to the real marvels of the planet we live on.

From the author of The History of the World in 100 Animals, a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week, comes an inspirational new book that looks at the 100 plants that have had the greatest impact on humanity, stunningly illustrated throughout.As humans, we hold the planet in the palms of ours hands. But we still consume the energy of the sun in the form of food. The sun is available for consumption because of plants. Plants make food from the sun by the process ...

Reflections on the natural world and our place within it from one of our finest natural history writers – nature writing at its very best.We've all got one. A secret, special place. Hidden. Enclosed. A little greener and more fertile than the world outside. Here the birds are slightly more exotic, slightly more confiding, the grass greener and the fruit sweeter. To know such a place, to love such a place, is part of being human.Sometimes it's a place of myt...

Few books are more intimidating than a conventional field guide. There are simply too many birds in them. This book introduces the reader to Britain's most obvious birds. But it does more than that: it also explains them. It explains the way that different birds do different things, eat different food, sing different songs and live different lives, and it explains why they are different. If you are a would-be birdwatcher but don't know where to start, A Bad Field Guide is for you. It will ...