Black Swan Meadowland. The private life of an English field Lewis-Stempel John

From the Paleozoic volcanoes that stained its soil, to the Saxons who occupied it, to the Tudors who traded its wool, to the Land Girls of wartime, John Lewis-Stempel charts a sweeping, lyrical history of Woodston: the quintessential English farm • With his combined skills of farmer and historian, Lewis-Stempel digs deep into written records, the memories of relatives, and the landscape itself to celebrate the farmland his family have been bound to for millennia. Through Woodston's life, we feel the joyful arrival of oxen ploughing; we see pigs rootling in the medieval apple orchard; and take in the sharp, drowsy fragrance of hops on Edwardian air. He draws upon his wealth of historical knowledge and his innate sense of place to create a passionate, fascinating biography of farming in England

‘To see a hare sit still as stone, to watch a hare boxing on a frosty March morning, to witness a hare bolt . . . these are great things. Every field should have a hare.’ • The hare, a night creature and country-dweller, is a rare sight for most people. We know them only from legends and stories. They are shape-shifters, witches’ familiars and symbols of fertility. They are arrogant, as in Aesop’s The Hare and the Tortoise, and absurd, as in Lewis Carroll’s Mad March Hare. In the absence of observed facts, speculation and fantasy have flourished. But real hares? What are they like? • In The Private Life of the Hare, John Lewis-Stempel explores myths, history and the reality of the hare. And in vivid, elegant prose he celebrates how, in an age when television cameras have revealed so much in our landscape, the hare remains as elusive and magical as ever

Christopher Somerville, author of the acclaimed The January Man, pictured cathedrals as great unmoving bastions of tradition. But as he journeys among Britian’s favourites, old and new, he discovers buildings and communities that have been in constant upheaval for a thousand years. Here are stories of the monarchs and bishops who ordered the construction of these buildings, the masons whose genius brought them into being, and the peasants who worked and died on the scaffolding. We learn of rogue saints exploited by holy sinners, the pomp and prosperity that followed these ships of stone, the towns that grew up in their shadows • Meeting believers and non-believers, architects and archaeologists, the cleaner who dusts the monuments and the mason who judges stone by its taste, we delve deep into the private lives and the uncertain future of these ever-voyaging Ships of Heaven

What is happening in the brain when we drink too much alcohol, get high on ecstasy or experience road rage? Emotion, says internationally acclaimed neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, is the building block of consciousness. As our minds develop we create a personalized inner world based on our experiences. But during periods of intense emotion, such as anger, fear or euphoria, we can literally lose our mind, returning to the mental state we experienced as infants. Challenging many preconceived notions, Susan Greenfield's groundbreaking book seeks to answer one of science's most enduring mysteries: how our unique sense of self is created

When Victoria was born in 1819, no one expected her to become queen. But when William IV died in 1837 without a legitimate child of his own to succeed him, the role fell to her • Headstrong and eccentric, this 18-year-old girl was just 4ft 11in tall. On the face of it, she didn’t appear to be cut out for monarchy. But Victoria s devotion to duty and her long reign would come to be seen as an outstanding example of British success, heralding an age of industrial growth and the expansion of a worldwide empire • Based on her own words, this is the story of the life and loves of a remarkable woman whose reign left an enduring mark on Britain and the world

A hilarious warts-and-all novel about modern motherhood – and how having it all sometimes isn’t what you think it might be • She used to want it all • Now she just wants a nap • Tara Gallagher is knackered. She used to dream of being Beyonce but suddenly she’s thirty-six and instead of headlining Glastonbury, she’s in her pyjamas on a Friday night, watching Gogglebox • It’s time for a mammy makeover. She’s going to show her teenage daughter she’s still cool. Show her husband she’s still an absolute ride. And show her colleagues she’s still a Boss Bish • But most of all, she’s going to prove to herself that she can still be a mum, still work full time, and still be Beyonce…

Traditional ploughland is disappearing. Seven cornfield flowers have become extinct in the last twenty years. Once abundant, the corn bunting and the lapwing are on the Red List. The corncrake is all but extinct in England. And the hare is running for its life • Written in exquisite prose, The Running Hare tells the story of the wild animals and plants that live in and under our ploughland, from the labouring microbes to the patrolling kestrel above the corn, from the linnet pecking at seeds to the seven-spot ladybird that eats the aphids that eat the crop. It recalls an era before open-roofed factories and silent, empty fields, recording the ongoing destruction of the unique, fragile, glorious ploughland that exists just down the village lane

Пруды: небольшие водоемы, как естественного, так и искусственного происхождения, где обитают удивительные, разнообразные формы жизни. Пруды определяют наше детство: лягушачью икру, золотых рыбок, кормление уток, а также нашу деревенскую жизнь, наши фермы, наш ландшафт. И они многослойны - от карпа, кружащего у дна, до водяных лодочников, лысухи и птиц-стрекоз над головой. В книге "Тихая вода. Глубинная жизнь пруда" Джон Льюис-Стемпел погружается в темные глубины, как в буквальном, так и в переносном смысле, чтобы исследовать тихие воды британской сельской местности в течение каждого месяца года • Книга на английском языке • Great nature writing needs to be informative, detailed, accurate, lyrical, and, above all, to instil a sense of gratitude and wonder

"Лес. Жизнь и времена Кокшатт Вуда", написанный в формате дневника, - это история английских лесов, меняющихся в зависимости от времени года. Лиричный и информативный, пропитанный поэзией и фольклором, Лес населяет разум и трогает душу • В течение четырех лет Джон Льюис-Стемпель управлял Кокшатт-вудом, особым лесом - тремя с половиной акрами смешанного леса на юго-западе Херефордшира, - который является образцом для всех небольших лесов Англии. Джон посадил деревья и разводил коров и свиней, которые свободно бродили там • Это дневник за прошлый год, за который он успел изучить его от корней бука до верхушек дубов и узнать всех животных, которые там обитали - лису, фазанов, лесных мышей, неясыть - и где лучше всего росли колокольчики. Для многих представителей фауны и флоры леса, подобные Кокшатту, являются последним убежищем

The Wild Life is John Lewis-Stempel's account of twelve months eating only food shot, caught or foraged from the fields, hedges, and brooks of his forty-acre farm. Nothing from a shop and nothing raised from agriculture. Could it even be done? • We witness the season-by-season drama as the author survives on Nature's larder, trains Edith, a reluctant gundog, and conjures new recipes. And, above all, we see him get closer to Nature. Because, after all, you're never closer to Nature than when you're trying to kill it or pick it • Lyrical, observant and mordantly funny, The Wild Life is an extraordinary celebration of our natural heritage, and a testament to the importance of getting back to one's roots - spiritually and practically

One hundred years on • On 18 July 1917, a heavy artillery barrage was unleashed by the Allied forces against an entrenched German army outside the town of Ypres. it was to be the opening salvo of one of the most ferociously fought and debilitating encounters of the First World War • Few battles would encapsulate the utter futility of the war better that what became known as the Battle of Passchendaele. By the time the British and Canadian forces finally captured Passchendaele village on 6 November, the Allies had suffered over 271,000 casualties and the German army over 217,000 • Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth shows how ordinary men on both sides endured this constant state of siege, with a very real awareness that they were being gradually, deliberately felled

Jim Al-Khalili is about to untangle the world's greatest science conundrums • How does the fact that it gets dark at night prove the Universe must have started with a big bang? • Where are all the aliens? • Why does the length of a piece of string vary depending on how fast it is moving? • Our subject is 'perceived paradoxes' - questions or thought-experiments that on first encounter seem impossible to answer, but which science has been able to solve • Our tour of these mind-expanding puzzles will take us through some of the greatest hits of science - from Einstein's theories about space and time, to the latest ideas of how the quantum world works. Some of our paradoxes may be familiar, such as Schrodinger's famous cat, which is seemingly alive and dead at the same time; or the Grandfather Paradox - if you travelled back in time and killed your grandfather you would not have been born and would not therefore have killed your grandfather