A rare import from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, where the author is a curatorial assistant and an instructor in art history. His research interests include Italian and French manuscript illumination as well as the history of gardens, botany, and pharmacopeia in early modern Europe. Planted by hand for the delight of kings and lieutenants, the book celebrates the Renaissance garden which inherited the traditions established by the medieval monastic cloister and provided the foundation for the extravagant gardens of the Baroque period such as Louis XIV's renowned Versailles. The volume gathers a wide range of objects from the Getty's permanent collection between 1400 and 1600, with a focus primarily on the art of Renaissance book illumination. Vines twist and wind through page borders, the Virgin Mary seeks tranquillity amid flowers and blossoms, exotic specimens from faraway lands are delineated in detail, and members of the nobility wander through plantings, admiring their possessions. These images enable an exploration of the varied aesthetic, religious, scientific and economic meanings that gardens held in the Renaissance era. Whether connected to grandiose villas or common kitchens, they were planted and treasured in all reaches of society. Due to their ephemeral nature, most gardens have changed or been lost since the Renaissance, but this gorgeously illustrated volume allows us to appreciate gardens on many levels from the literary Garden of Love and the biblical Garden of Eden to courtly gardens of the nobility, and reveals the many activities both reputable and scandalous that took place inside. In one a man stands near a bunch of flowers called speedwell, while the woman grasps a daisy in her right hand. Around the margin are red roses, periwinkles, white and purple phlox and red currants. There are spectacular stage designs featuring grottoes, pergolas and mythological figures, the flowers and their associations and an explanation of the central axis and beds of herbs and flowers arranged in geometric patterns with a combination of sculptures, fountains and topiaries and the Renaissance ideal that art and nature are in a constant back-and-forth duel of imitating each other. 78 glossy pages, colour illus. throughout.

Blending biography and natural history and a meditation on what it means to keep your first bee colony, Jukes relates with wonder, awe and dogged determination a year of living dangerously, watching and capturing the wondrous, complex universe of honeybees, and learning an altogether different way of being in the world. As the author enters her 30s, she is feeling disconnected in her life, uneasy about her future and struggling to settle into her new home in Oxford with its own small back garden. She is brought back to a time of accompanying a friend in London, a beekeeper, on his hive visits, and as a gesture of good fortune for her new life, she is given a colony of honeybees. According to folklore, a colony freely given brings good luck, and Helen Jukes embarks on a rewarding, perilous journey of beekeeping as she delves into the history of beekeeping and writes about discovering the ancient, haunting and sometimes disturbing relationship between the keeper and the bee, and an observation of the irrepressible wildness of these fascinating creatures, individual and collective. Is honey an animal product or is it plant based? As the author's colony grows, the questions that have at first compelled her interest fade away into her meditation on solitude and friendship, on feelings of restlessness and on home, and how we might better know ourselves and our place on planet Earth. US import with 233 roughcut pages, small remainder mark, illus.

Prize winning very, very funny and popular Dublin writer Mark O'Connell is not concerned himself by the end of days, but sets out to meet them. Are you ready for the end of the world? In the remote mountains of Scotland, in spartan bunkers in South Dakota and in the lush valleys of New Zealand, small groups of determined men and women are getting ready. They are environmentalists who fear the ravages of climate change, billionaire entrepreneurs dreaming of a life on Mars, and right-wing conspiracists yearning for a lost American idyll. One thing unites them - the certainty that we are only years away from the end of civilisation as we know it. Greta Thunberg said, 'I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis... because it is.' We meet all manner of cranks to the details of The Founder's paradox and uneasy fascination with the utopian future imagined by the techno-libertarians of Silicon Valley. Sounds like a strategy board game where you acquire land, rich resources and clean air, away from the chaos and ecological devastation gripping the rest of the world. Utterly fascinating and global in scope. 252pp.

If Professor Brian Cox says this is 'illuminating' we pay attention. The book is a masterclass in clear and captivating writing, dense with ideas and stories. Our Sun drives the weather, forms the landscape, feeds and fuels, but sometimes destroys the creatures that live upon it, controls their activity patterns, mixes chemicals in the skin that cheer up those that bask in its rays, and for the ancients was the seat of divine authority. Steve Jones shows how life on Earth is fuelled by our nearest star. His book is filled with unexpected connections - between the need to stay cool and man's ability to stand upright, between the power of memory and the onset of darkness, between the flow of solar energy through the plants and animals, and of the wealth of society, and between Joseph Goebbel's 1938 scheme to make Edinburgh the summer capital of a defeated Britain and the widening gap in the life expectancy of Scottish men compared to that of other European men brought on by that nation's cloudy climate. The author charts some of his own research in hot places and cold across the globe on the genetic and evolutionary effects of sunlight on snails, fruit flies and people. He braids in gripping storylines on conditions linked to lack of sunlight such as the bone disease rickets, the interplay between night, day and sleep, and throwaway gems from primates urinating on themselves to stay cool to the boiling-porridge turbulence of convection on the solar surface. Witty and insightful from this popular science writer. 360pp, paperback with colour images.

Put yourself in the paws of the wildlife visiting your garden and soak up the sunshine with the plants. This colourful, intelligent book reveals the secrets of the garden and, by sharing its insights, allows people to provide places for wild animals and plants to flourish in their own spaces, whether they are rural, suburban or urban settings. The book is split into seven sections: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates and plants. In the event of a visiting hedgehog, rather than feeding it milk, the guide suggests cat or dog food as an offering because it is more similar to the invertebrates such as molluscs, worms, spiders and insects which are the animal's normal food source. If wanting to provide somewhere cosy for a greater spotted woodpecker, the book advises providing a nest box which is filled with soft material mimicking decayed wood, such as expanded polystyrene foam so they can excavate a cavity to their exact specifications. Readers can learn that the common grass snake and the barred grass snake are no longer treated as one species but are both attracted to sheets of corrugated iron as they enjoy the warmth that builds up below so they can bask without feeling vulnerable. To accompany the wisdom, the book includes fantastic colour photographs such as a shot of the barking deer, which is a small and 'pig-like' animal adapted to life in thick undergrowth, an image of a common frog, which is extremely variable in its patterns and colours that range from greens to reds, and a photo of the tawny owl, which is a successful garden bird because it will prey on a variety of animals including small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Admire an array of moths and butterflies, use the photos to go bird spotting and keep an eye out for eels which return to rivers during their adulthood after spending several years in the sea. Paperback, colour photographs, 136pp.

When the author was assured by a taxi driver that "there was no wildlife in Britain", she took up the challenge and this charming and informative book is the result. Isla Hodgson sweeps the reader along with her enthusiasm for the rich diversity of the natural world, describing not only moments of high excitement but also the humdrum waiting in the cold and wet. Hodgson shows us that wildlife can be found in our back garden and the local park, and that we can make exciting discoveries on a shoestring budget. Coastal, freshwater, inland and urban habitats are her four categories, and gorgeous photography accompanies them all. The stacks and arches of our varied coastline are home to some of the largest colonies of seabirds in Europe, while inter-tidal rock pools harbour rubbery beadlet anemones and nippy little hermit crabs. The Ythan estuary north of Aberdeen has an enormous seal colony, and a feature page gives the reader some facts about "Seals and where to find them", while an inset box on Seal Etiquette tells you what to do if you find an injured seal. Freshwater habitats such as the Montrose Basin are home to herons, kingfishers, and warblers, and it is here that after 24 years of effort Isla finally sees brown hares in their famous "boxing" ritual. Lochs are natural habitats for swallows and martins, while an osprey is spotted as far south as Rutland Water. The Scottish Highlands welcome not only grouse and stags but also birds ranging from cuckoos to hen harriers, while urban spaces have foxes in gardens and lichens in graveyards and millipedes in allotments. 192pp, softback, numerous colour illustrations.

A lavish Thames & Hudson publication with 338 colour illustrations, many double page, of some of the finest examples of taxidermy, many staged and in curious settings and others curiosities such a cojoined twin lambs under glass domes - four ears, one mouth and eight legs. Art installations include a taxidermy barn owl with bluebottles and thistle seeds by Claire Morgan 2011. This real cabinet of curiosities is beautiful, strange and intriguing and sometimes repellent, just like the history of taxidermy itself. 20 years' experience has been brought to the creation of this beautiful book that catalogues and illustrates this resurgent artform. Now stuffed animals appear everywhere from chic apartments to luxury boutiques and museums have been dusting down their collections to put them back on display while contemporary artists have rejuvenated the practice. From its beginnings as a tool of natural history research, through crazes and anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and fake taxidermy to its rediscovery by the art, fashion and design worlds of the 21st century, this heavyweight glossy softback will not fail to astonish and amuse. There are of course the Boxing Squirrels by Edward Hart and the Cat's Whiskers with period dress and parasol, mice in a small French tableau with butler in attendance, four squirrels depicting stages of a boxing match from handshake to knockout, birds in domes, giraffes and stags in realistic attitudes, moose heads, a scarlet ibis, antlers and horns, elephant tusk lined staircase, taxidermy snakes which were confiscated on their way for sale in the USA and trophy mounts, thankfully now out of fashion. See diorama interior design as used in pubs and restaurants, luxury jewellery photoshoots, a Ted Baker store in London featuring taxidermy white rabbits in quirky attitudes and positions, and a fake preserved dragon pickled in 2003 - these images amaze the beholder. 256 large page softback, colour.
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Winner of the Woodland Books of the Year Award, from getting to know the local wildlife to foraging and creating naturally sourced masterpieces, the book is brimming with practical information, intriguing quotes and inspirational ideas. Discover how to carve your own spoon, tell if the Moon is waxing or waning, try forest bathing (surrounding yourself with trees), learn how to make yourself at home amongst the animals and plants on your doorstep in harmony with your surroundings. Wild Rosehip Soup, Hedgerow Jam, Mushroom Mayhem, worm wizardry, litter bug, hunting with a camera, rock art, earth works, wild grass, the wonder of weeds, a colour quest - and that is just the Earth section. We go on to Sky to look at pinecones and seaweed and a halo of ice, shooting stars and a Moon walk; Water going fishing without a rod, skimming stones or dousing; to the Wood for forest bathing and acorn coffee; Feather to make your own bird feeder and understand bird language, pellet power and great bird spectacles; and lastly to Fur, creating an animal highway, understanding tracks, the art of camouflage and pop! goes the weasel. With space for your own notes, clear layout, 192 page decorated paperback.

A beautiful glossy colour compendium for every family bookcase with gorgeous colour photographs, one or two per page of gardens, parks and trees, farmland, hedgerows and verges, woods and forests, heaths, downs, moors and mountains, rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes, sea and seashore and all the birds and animals and fish and plants and trees to look out for. Spot the difference between the common line and the common yew, the walnut and the Norway maple, the creeping buttercup and the daisy, the biting stone crop and the sun spurge; the song thrush and the mistle thrush, the tit family with their beautiful colourful plumage, the buff-tailed bumble bee and the honey bee, the garden black ant, ladybirds, butterflies and moths, earthworms and slow worms, poppies and cowslips, redwings and quails, snails and snakes, bats to badgers, buzzards and red deer, common cotton grass with its fluffy white clumps of wool to a gallery of fish like the pike, perch, barbel and chub, the mink and the water vole, rock samphire and rock sea rocket on the shoreline and the gannets and kittiwake, limpets and winkles. With an excellent text, the final double page colour photograph is of a seal kissing her pup. A treasure trove of facts, remarkable stories, intriguing folklore and beautiful photographs covering some 500 species and answering such questions as which weed is still used in hand cream and why spiders were fed to the sick in ancient times. 384 very large glossy pages, colour illus.

Award-winning underwater photographer David Doubilet has chosen 15 images (each repeated three times) including photographs of spotted dolphins in the Bahamas, pompano fish feeding in the sands off the Virgin Islands, a beautiful pink jewel anemone growing near New Zealand's Poor Knights Islands, swirling fish around a diver, a cheeky dolphin coming to the camera, bare human feet on the seabed, beautiful coral reefs and an extremely beautiful red striped turtle gliding in clear waters off a tropical island. A quality publication from Phaidon Press, this first edition collection is presented in a sturdy clear plastic wallet for safe keeping before you select one of the 15 images in glorious colour on these expensive-looking large sized postcards, 45 in total. Fantastic value for money.