'From whom did you steal that beauty? The rose laughs softly out of shame, but how should she tell?' - Rumi. Acclaimed horticultural historian Jennifer Potter shows that this most fragrant flower, the rose, has potency in societies around the world. She begins her story in the Greek and Roman empires and travels across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas to unravel its evolution from a simple briar of the northern hemisphere to the height of cultivated perfection found in rose gardens today. She lays bare the flower's long association with sexuality and secret societies, questioning the Crusaders' role in bringing roses back from the Holy Land, or hunting for its elusive blooms in the gardens of the Empress Josephine at Malmaison. An exquisitely beautiful heavyweight tome printed on quality paper and with hundreds of full page colour plates not only of roses but of archive paintings and historical artifacts and illuminated manuscripts, the book challenges many cherished beliefs about the rose and this thick tome looks to establish itself as the definitive history of the Queen of Flowers. Celebrated as a sacred symbol and as a token of womanhood, the rose unites Venus with the Virgin Mary, the blood of Christ with the sweat of Muhammad, the sacred and the profane, life and death, the white rose of chastity and the red rose of consummation. Not forgetting the delicate petals in different hues in the exquisite perfumes, we learn about roses which came to Europe from Turkey and Bulgaria and the Balkan mountains, rosemania and Redouté's exquisite portraits of their best creations which further inflamed passions. We have a 21st century view of cultivated roses be they old garden roses from Alba to tea and climbing tea, or modern roses like Floribunda to Polyantha. Chinese Whispers, American Beauties, the Housewife's Friend and its uses, here is trade and travel and sex and sorcery. 521 magnificent pages with approximately 100 colour illus. 16.5 x 24.1cm.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.

Buttercup, honeysuckle, carrot, bellflower, gentian, daphne, ivy, valerian, nettle, hemp, mignonette, pondweed, daffodil, potato, teasel, rose, saxifrage, pink, pea, mallow, daisy, lily, orchid, poppy, there are grasses, shrubs, aquatic plants, cacti, weeds, herbs, balsams and more in an authoritative guide to more than 750 wild flowers of the world. Beautifully illustrated with more than 1,700 specially commissioned botanical illustrations, colour photographs and maps, and organised by families, it is all presented on glossy white paper and 256 huge pages, 10" x 12" approx. Among the prettiest are from the mallow family like the blue hibiscus, lily of the valley tree and from the grasses the blue tinsel lily which takes its name from its shiny blue flowers and is native to Western and South Australia. Christmas Pride, Golden Shrimp Plant and Mosaic Plant feature in the Acanthus family which in itself comprises about 250 genera and 2,500 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs or twining vines. This is an absolutely superb reference for every gardener and nature lover.

'The Secret Life of a Cameraman' is the sub-title of this book with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough. Gavin Thurston is the award-winning Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II cameraman who tells the extraordinary and adventurous true stories of what it takes to track down and film our planet's most captivating features. A wildlife photographer for over 30 years, and set against the backdrop of modern world history, Gavin had lurked in the shadows of some of the world's remotest places in order to capture footage of the animal kingdom's finest - prides of lions, silverback gorillas, capuchin monkeys, brown bears, grey whales, penguins, mosquitos. From journeys to the deepest depths of the Antarctic Ocean and the wide expanse of the Saharan Deserts, to the peaks of the Himalayas and the wild forests of the Congo, his experiences describe much more than just the incredible array of animals he has filmed. Full of heart-warming and heart-breaking stories, modest, down to earth and full of humour, Gavin invites us to come inside his hidden world and discover the hours spent patiently waiting for the protagonist to appear; the inevitable dangers in the wings and challenges faced and overcome; and the life-affirming moments the cameras miss as well as capture. With a small selection of colour and other photos, diary-like entries, you will be absorbed. 427pp, paperback.

'Racy in tone, and full of the sort of lurid detail with which you can reduce a dinner party to silence', here are the ins and outs of mating in the animal kingdom in a brilliantly engaging guide to the reproductive habits of all creatures great and small. In terms of its biological definition, sex is the meeting of sex cells from males and females in order to create offspring. Is sex about companionship, love, passion, procreation? The answer is all of the above and none of the above, depending on a plethora of biological and ecological factors. Have you ever wondered how human sex compares to that of other beasts? It's far from merely inserting part A into slot B - the sex lives of our animal cousins are fiendishly difficult, infinitely varied and often violent. They involve razor-sharp penises, murderous cannibals, and chemical warfare in an epic battle between the sexes. Try having to do it while being hunted down by predators, against a backdrop of unpredictable or life-threatening conditions. Then sperm and eggs must successfully meet. Can you imagine doing this when your partner is intent on killing you or when other disgruntled singles are determined to throw you off your game? The next task is to ensure that the resulting offspring reaches sexual maturity in order to keep the cycle going and the myriad ways in which this is accomplished are ingenious. Read about the male who has to rip off his own penis and spear it into a female's genital opening before she rips his head off. It's a tough world out there, so sit back and get ready for the titillating, exhilarating, horrifying, disgusting, alluring and wonderful world that is the nature of sex. 377pp.

Sub-titled 'The Small Joy of Putting One Foot In Front of Another' in the Preamble we are told 'I walked out of the door of the hotel and into Africa.' 'For me walking fills as vital as breathing. The first thing I do, every morning I can, is to go for a walk - for an hour, or longer if I can get away with it - usually alone apart from my dogs. I find the simple action of putting one foot in front of the other, and the rhythm of that action, incredibly therapeutic. It wakes me up, unscrambles my sleep-fogged head. But it also gives me a sense of immersion, of being rooted somewhere...' Kate Humble advocates that this simple act shows us that the true purpose of walking transcends the need to get from A to B and her book is a heartfelt call to action for anyone seeking to enhance their own health and happiness, one step at a time. The connection with the seasons, with the daily shifts, how a mood is lifted by the song of a skylark, a fragrant sea of bluebells or the crashing waves on a windswept beach, the book is an encouragement to reconnect with the outside world. The reason Kate Humble was in this region of Isebania, with its people particularly hated by the Maasai, was the traditional practice of female genital mutilation. Governed by their own gods, beliefs and powerful council of elders, the people within the tribe wanted to see change too and the practice of circumcising girls to become a thing of the past. 'We were there to try to capture, as faithfully and honestly as we could, the complexities of this period of huge social upheaval.' 296pp, paperback.

Published in conjunction with the Wildlife Trusts, this superb guide comprehensively covers more than 500 of the UK's top nature reserves, with hundreds of ideas throughout the year for both nature lovers and families looking for a special day out. Discover the Cabilla and Redrice Woods near Bodmin with a Did You Know? that the adits that the bats occupy were mined for silver and lead in the 18th century, that parts of the wood have not changed for over 400 years, and the network of paths are exactly the same as shown on a 1602 map. For each entry there is an OS map reference, how to get there, access and conditions, walking time, suggestions for a 30-minute visit and what one of the members of the Trust says. There are farms, dunes and broads, heaths and marshes, waterways, tunnels and meadows, Flamborough Cliffs, North Cave Wetlands and it is all organised by regions of Great Britain - the Southwest, Southeast, East, East Midlands, West Midlands, North, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. With Glossary and Maps and a foreword by Chris Packham and symbols for parking and toilets, shops and picnic areas, dogs on leads, cycle hire etc. 500 entries with a chance to discover some of the countryside's best-kept secrets. 320pp, quality heavyweight softback packed with colour photos.

Sub-titled 'From the Savannah to Your Sofa, the Secret Life and Evolutionary History of the Cat', this engaging and often funny guide explains the science clearly and with nuance. Losos is entertaining and anecdotal, learned and chatty as he surveys the evolutionary history, behavioural habits and potential future with a lovely cast list of felines both wild and domestic, large and small. The history of the cat family is brought right up to date with the emergence of new breeds and hybrids as we learn all about the domesticated house cat, the African wild cat from which it descended and still lurks within Fluffy. Why don't lions meow? Why does your cat leave a dead mouse at your feet? Why is a pet ocelot a bad idea? Losos unravels the secrets of the cat using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you'll be amazed where they roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat, really?) to forensic archaeology. He tells us the story of the cat's domestication (if you can call it that) and gives us a cat's-eye view of the world today. Along the way we also meet their wild cousins, whose behaviours are eerily similar to even the sweetest of our puddy tats at home. Finally he looks at the special bond between Felis catus and Homo sapiens. 390pp, illus.

A beautifully designed simple identification guide aimed at children, we believe adults will love the specially commissioned detailed colour artworks of over 100 different species of British wildlife from mammals to minibeasts, birds, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers and more. Packed with information on habitats, conservation and species identification, there are fact files on scientific names, habitat and breeding. In addition there are sections on national parks and watching wildlife, fresh water fish and wild flowers organised by colour and trees and shrubs by leaf shape. Rediscover the holly blue butterfly, the bloody-nosed beetle, the chaffinch and the brambling, the little tern and the sandwich tern, the roe deer and the red deer, the bank vole and the field vole, the yellow-necked mouse and the brown rat, the brown long-eared bat and the harvest mouse. Be prepared for your next outdoor adventure or enjoy the colour coded large pages in this beautifully designed softback with not only artworks but colour photos as well. 384pp, 18.8 x 22.3cm.

As heard on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week, this is the inspiring story of an Icelandic sheep farmer, former model and feminist heroine who is a force of nature. 'I want to tell women they can do anything, and to show that sheep farming isn't just a man's game.' Heida is a solitary farmer with a flock of 500 sheep in a wild area bordering Iceland's highlands, an area so remote it is known as the 'End of the World'. One of her neighbours is Iceland's most notorious volcano Katla, which has periodically driven away the inhabitants of Ljotarstaoir ever since people first started farming there in the 12th century. Divided into four seasons, the book tells the story of a remarkable year, when Heida reluctantly went into politics to fight plans to raise a hydro-electric power station on her land. The book paints an unforgettable portrait of a remote life close to nature, telling a heroic tale of a charismatic young woman who walked away from a career as a model to take over the family farm at the age of 23. Vivid stories of her animals and farmwork mingle with her wry poems and sense of community and here is life from a very different angle, a shepherd's life spent watchful of the dangers of earthquakes and glaciers, herding the last sheep back from the upper mountain slopes by quadbike before the deadly snows of winter descend. 305pp, fairly large print.

A watercolour art pad with outlines of 15 plants like the nasturtium, rose, tree peony, gourd flower, passionflower, foxglove, star anise to an apple on a branch, create beautiful botanical artworks and enjoy the relaxing practice of watercolour painting. These 15 original paintings have been reproduced as outlines on high quality art paper which may be torn out as you refer to the original colour artwork in the book with recommended colour palettes in the Gallery. The key to the colour numbers can be found in the Plant Painter's Tool Kit and follow the guidance from the artist at the front of the book. Perfect for absolute beginners or anyone wishing to start a new hobby or refresh their skills, or simply appreciate the beauty of nature. 56 pages in large softback, 21.21 x 29.7cm. Colour.