Nightwalking: Four Journeys into Britain After Dark

Description

A perfect gift book for the autumn season, acclaimed nature writer and farmer John Lewis-Stempel shows us a countryside unseen as he ventures into the moonlight to walk with nocturnal animals. At night, the normal rules of Nature do not apply. In the night-wood I have met a badger coming the other way, tipped my cap, said hello. The animals do not expect us humans to be abroad in the dark, which is their time, when the world still belongs to them. That was in winter. The screaming of a tawny owl echoed off the bare trees. For all of our street-lamp civilization, you can still hear the call of the wild. If, if, you go out after the decline of the day... As the human world settles down each evening, nocturnal animals prepare to take back the countryside. Taking readers on four walks through the four seasons, acclaimed nature writer and farmer John Lewis-Stempel reveals a world bursting with life and normally hidden from view. Out beyond the cities, it is still possible to see the night sky full of stars, or witness a moonbow, an arch of white light in the heavens. It is time for us to leave our lairs and go tramping. To join our fellow creatures of the night.

John Lewis-Stempel is a farmer and 'Britain's finest living nature writer' (The Times). His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers Woodston, The Running Hare and The Wood. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. In 2016 he was named Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He farms cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Traditionally.

This is a small book, yet it conveys memorably the magnitude and majesty of its subject - a charming blend of nature diary, sound archive and scent library. It can even be seen as a kind of dictionary in which, like Byron's nightwandering Manfred, we can learn 'the language of another world'. * Spectator * An enticing paean to the night... * Geographical * Sheer poetry * Collagerie * A soothing stocking filler * Country Life * Spellbinding * Saga * He describes the allure of an after dark stroll with typical poetic aplomb...evocative and encouraging * The Simple Things * A beautiful little hardback book and wonderful stocking filler for the nature-lover in your life * Countryside *