Covering all vertebrate animals apart from birds that live wild on land in Britain, and including all four-legged animals, snakes and a slow-worm as well as seals, the land animals described in this book belong to three major groups: amphibians, reptiles or mammals. The main part of the book features more than 70 wild land animals, species by species, their habitats, lifespan, size, life expectancy and how they are related to their surroundings. To help you understand how an animal's observed behaviour is linked to its body structure and lifestyle, pages 8 to 25 outline some of the reasons why animals feed, breed and behave in different ways, and distribution maps are given for each wild species, coloured maroon on the map. Covers skin whether waterproof, furry, breathable, changing colour, a new summer coat or a specially developed under fur and structure such as four limbs of flippers like the seal or as wings like the bat, long or short necks, feet with two toes or legs that spread sideways like the lizard. From adders and badgers to voles and weasels, you will find fascinating facts on where they breed, feed and how to identify each creature in their natural environment which greatly enhances any outdoor experience. All superbly illustrated and with detailed artworks showing how to distinguish between species and special features covering animal centres and recognising tracks and other signs of animal activity. 256pp, 15 x 14cm, softback packed with colour.

Let us go back to Christopher Columbus, to his diary of his first journey, as well as some of his other writings. The originality of the sites confronting the Discoverer, new landscapes, a flora and fauna never seen before, and even human beings different from Europeans, seems to often excite the senses of the Navigator and his mates, but it was hard to convey. His observation is striking. Gerbi wrote that through Columbus's eyes America had 'emblematic parrots and lizards. Myriads of singing birds fill the sky while the ocean is teeming with shoals of playful, multi-coloured fish.' Landscape and nature, portraits, feather-dressed natives, pygmies fighting cranes, depictions of the fountains of youth, engravings, ink, watercolour, gold and silver on paper illustrations plus woodcuts, there is even iconography on cannibalism. 655 pages on special watermarked Italian paper, profusely illustrated, much in colour. Printed on special watermarked paper (as in all this series) in Rome, 1996 First Edition.

The Moon's mighty pull, the power of wind and water, castles and sculptures of art on beaches, arches and monoliths and caves, spits and barriers, fossils and footprints, seaweed and rockpools, jellyfish and guillemots, sand dunes and salt marshes, walruses and dolphins, lighthouses and smugglers, hill forts and pillbox fortresses, Punch and Judy and holiday camp fun, seaside gardens to sea serpents, selkie tales, the weather and ghostly vessels to how Dracula arrived in Whitby. In every season our coasts are magical places bursting with energy and never the same at any passing minute. Violent storms can strike, jellyfish sting and quicksand engulf the unwary. Every step of the 12,000 or more miles sculptured by winds and tides has wildlife to enjoy, human creations to admire, and a wealth of stories to tell, and on every page of this book we see that our coast is truly an amazing and extraordinary place. 144pp, very well illus. New full price publication.

A complete guide to orchids and their cultivation, these flamboyant, intriguing, beautiful and exotic plants have evolved to become the largest family of plants in the world. This classic book written by two of the world's leading orchid authorities and newly updated helps you identify, choose and display these delightful flowers successfully. It offers a round-the-world tour of the range of tropical and temperate habitats in which orchids are found and explains main orchid types, how early explorers discovered the first tropical orchids and started an orchid craze that continues today. It explains orchid botany and nomenclature, inspirational ideas for growing these plants indoors whether in glass tanks and baskets or on trees and stones, as well as growing orchids outdoors. There is information on basic tools and equipment, compost mixes, potting and mounting, propagation, feeding, watering and light control and dealing with pests and diseases. The Orchid Directory explains their natural habitat, size, flowering time and growing requirements, and all the main genera are covered from Cymbidium to Dendrobium, from Phalaenopsis to Phragmipedium as well as a selection of specialist orchids. There is also an easy-to-use glossary. On each grand very glossy bright white heavyweight page are between one and four colour photographs, many in close up, exhibiting the range of colours of pinks and orange and white and mottles and veins and patterns and blotches and spots, and shapes and textures, standing clear of the foliage and how flowers are produced at various times of the year, blooming again the following year. In 2009, the authors were jointly awarded the Westonbirt Orchid Medal for Outstanding Literary Achievement on the Subject of Orchids. The final inside back cover photograph is so close up you can almost feel the spongy iridescent silver sparkling texture of the pin spots on the beautiful white flower photographed. 256 very large pages, colour.
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Sub-titled 'The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain', much has been written about Britain's trailblazing post-1975 Privatisation Programme, but the biggest privatisation of them all has until now escaped scrutiny - the privatisation of land. Since Margaret Thatcher took power in 1979, and hidden from the public eye, about 10% of the entire British land mass including some of its most valuable real estate has passed from public to private hands. Forest land, defence land, health service land and above all else local authority land for farming and school sports, for recreation and housing has been sold off en masse. Why? How? And with what social, economic and political consequences? This book is the first ever study of this profoundly significant phenomenon, setting it as a centrepiece of neoliberalism in Britain as a successor programme to the original 18th century enclosures. With more public land still slated for disposal, the book identifies the stakes and asks what if anything can and should be done. 'Necessary reading for anyone who wants to know where ruling-class power comes from, and how to take it back.' - Owen Hatherley. The economic geographer looks at the whole of Britain's 80,823 square miles. 362pp, paperback.

With news recently about the Great Sycamore being vandalised and cut down overnight on Hadrian's Wall, we turn today to this beautiful little book on why, which, where and how to plant trees. It is a practical guide written by an archaeologist concerned with understanding human relations with the landscape over the last few thousand years, involved with planting, growing, felling and studying trees for more than a quarter of a century. An old Chinese proverb says that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; but the next best time is now. For those who have never planted a tree in their lives, the book offers guidance on how to plant, propagate and care for your trees, the virtues of particular native British trees from Beech to Blackthorn, Oak to Alder, Willow to Whitebeam, Silver Birch, Hazelnut, Rowan, to the good old Yew and Oak tree. And advice on pollarding, weeding, disease and failure and growing trees from seed. 168pp, woodcut illus.

The updated edition, this is an excellent field guide to the mammals of Great Britain and Ireland beginning with an overview and history, biology and life cycle. Organised by Terrestrial Mammals like squirrels and dormice, beavers, hedgehogs and bats, wild cats and foxes, deer, pigs and wild boar, even reindeer and introduced ephemerals like the Siberian chipmunk, striped skunk and Asian short-clawed otter. In Marine Mammals there are seals, whales, dolphins, beluga and narwhal, the tusked males of which are unmistakable but there have been no confirmed sightings in Britain since 1949. For each entry there are details of length, height, blow, dive sequence, behaviour, weight, breathing behaviour, habitat, population and status, food and signs including tracks, droppings and nests and coloured distribution map. 126 mammal species recorded, 500 superb colour photos. Stunning colour photography in this heavyweight large softback, 328pp.

Lars Johnsson lives on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. He is an artist, author and ornithologist, and started painting birds at the age of four, and is celebrated as one of the world's leading wildlife artists. With him we meet the Chiff-Chaff, Bullfinch, Great Black-backed Gulls in stormy waters, Eurasian Wigeons and Curlews sunbathing, buzzards and crows, Golden Eagle, Greenfinch and the all-knowing White Gyrfalcon captured masterfully in watercolour. Plus elder-flowered orchid, trees and foliage, sky and sea as authentic locations for his avian subjects. His unique style is based on a deep understanding of birds and an extraordinary power of observation, and his paintings are executed directly in or based on sketches and studies made in the field. This gorgeous book uses not only the thoughts of the artist himself, and his descriptions of those habitats where he finds most of his inspiration - the Sea, Shorelines, Coastal Meadows and Arctic tundras - but also essays by a leading wildlife sculptor to convey something about the brilliance of Jonsson's work. Here are his early works, sketchbooks, watercolours, oil paintings, lithographs and ornithological projects to dazzle readers with his genius. Here too are descriptions of how he manages to capture his subjects so that they appear to leap off the page. We loved his piece about trying to portray the Wood Sandpiper. Apparently, this bird is constantly busy foraging, and usually hides its feet in the mud. It is also a challenge to get it to show its face and reveal its special facial expressions. 192 pages 30.5cm x 24.5cm in living colour.

With infectious panache, Martin Williams reconstructs the formation and geological history of the Sahara Desert and looks at the prehistoric peoples who once flourished by its long-vanished lakes and rivers. We learn of dramatic, climactic episodes and of ingenious adaptations to extreme aridity that is still relevant today. He explores how plants, animals and human communities adapted in a book which is part personal reminiscence and reflection, part popular science and part history. The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, equal in size to China or the USA. It once sustained abundant plant and animal life such as Nile perch, turtles, crocodiles and hippos and attracted prehistoric hunters and herders. From its origins as savanna woodland and grassland to its current arid incarnation, Martin Williams describes how the desert's ancient rocks were first fashioned, how dinosaurs roamed freely across the land, and how it was later covered in tall trees. How much did humans contribute to its desertification? What was the impact of extreme climatic episodes such as prolonged droughts, and how did plants, animals and humans adapt? The book also looks at the possible future and asks will the Sahara become green once more. 222pp, well illustrated, map and figures.

A pleasure to read and as uplifting as listening to a blackbird or robin in full voice, birdsong is woven into our culture, emotions and landscapes. Smyth asks what it is about birdsong that we so love and explores the myriad ways in which it has influenced literature, music, science and our very ideas of what it means to be British. His nuanced investigation shows that what we hear says as much about us, our dreams and desires, as it does about the birds and their songs. With a magpie-like curiosity for his subject that considers East-End bird catching alongside the Romantics and current bioacoustics research, Smyth has taught himself to hear and for us to listen a little closer to birdsong. He includes curious and apt descriptions, mixing history, science and personal anecdotes in a blended chorus of tasting notes. 190pp, line art.