In some ways, 2017 has been a quiet year for fans of the publishing phenomenon known as new nature writing. Some of the big hitters – notably Mark Cocker and Helen Macdonald – have not published new books, although Robert Macfarlane did produce The Lost Words (Hamish Hamilton), a large-format children’s book with stunning illustrations by Jackie Morris.
Their absence has left the field clear for less well‑known authors, who have filled the gap admirably. Genre debuts, including The Otter’s Tale by Simon Cooper (HarperCollins), Limestone Country by Fiona Sampson (Little Toller) and Waiting for the Albino Dunnock by Rosamond Richardson (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), deservedly won new admirers (although, sadly, Richardson died soon after her book came out).
More established names also unveiled new works. Wild About Britain by veteran travel writer Brian Jackman (Bradt) will come as a pleasant surprise to those who know the author only for his matchless prose on African wildlife. Hugh Warwick, best known for his writings on hedgehogs, also branched out with Linescapes (Square Peg), a fascinating work of landscape detection based on entirely straight journeys. The Guardian’s Patrick Barkham produced Islander: A Journey Around Our Archipelago (Granta), in which he managed to explore 11 small British islands and reflect his thoughts and experiences back to the larger, far more troubled mainland without once mentioning Brexit.
There was controversy, too. Chris Thomas’s Inheritors of the Earth (Allen Lane), subtitled How Nature Is Thriving in An Age of Extinction, took playing devil’s advocate to extremes by suggesting that the number of species’ extinctions recently is a sign that the planet is working just fine. Brilliant insight or dangerous nonsense? You decide.
For those who think the latter, Pádraic Fogarty’s Whittled Away: Ireland’s Vanishing Nature (Collins) serves as a timely warning. Similarly, David Cobham’s Bowland Beth: The Life of An English Hen Harrier (HarperCollins) is guaranteed to make the reader angry about the wildlife crimes being committed so blatantly by the grouse‑shooting industry.
Birds always feature extensively in these annual roundups and this year is no exception. Songs of Love and War (Bloomsbury) by Dominic Couzens delivers a dramatic behind-the-scenes account of birds’ breeding behaviour, while Adam Nicholson’s The Seabird’s Cry (William Collins) is a paean to some of our most charismatic wild creatures – as one birder puts it, “real birds eat fish”. Mike Toms and his colleagues at the British Trust for Ornithology focused on the miracles of bird migration in Flight Lines (BTO), which was illustrated beautifully by members of the Society of Wildlife Artists. Alex Preston, better known for his novels, joined forces with artist Neil Gower to produce the delightful As Kingfishers Catch Fire (Corsair), an original look at the literature inspired by Britain’s birdlife.
Other creatures got a look in this year, thanks to two series at the top of their game. HarperCollins’s New Naturalist kept up its usual high standards with three volumes: Early Humans by Nick Ashton, Farming and Birds by Ian Newton and Beetles by Richard Jones – astonishingly, the first New Naturalist to cover this fascinating group of insects in the series’ 70-year history. All three appeal to expert and beginner alike.
Princeton continued its partnership with WildGuides, producing more fabulous identification books. These included the surprise hit of this year’s Birdfair, Britain’s Spiders, by Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford and Helen Smith, which is ideal for the arachnophile in your life.
More conventional tastes are catered to in British Mammals, by Dominic Couzens et al, which is a comprehensive guide to identification, habitats, behaviour, distribution and numbers; it is absolutely brilliant.
Mammals facing extinction feature in Critical Critters (Bloomsbury), the latest broadside from Ceri Levy and Ralph Steadman: eccentric and important in equal measure.
Plants are often relegated to the back of the nature lover’s bookshelf, but this year it is worth searching out Oak and Ash and Thorn: The Ancient Forests and New Forests of Britain by Peter Fiennes (Oneworld) and London’s Street Trees by Paul Wood (Safe Haven), which adds a fascinating new dimension to any walk through the city.
Small, independent publishers such as Safe Haven continue to outperform in this field. Another example is Fair Acre, which persuaded the naturalist Matthew Oates to write a thoughtful account of spring and summer in Beyond Spring. Larger, but no less independent, Little Toller has published the first full‑length biography of the original new nature writer, My House of Sky: The Life of JA Baker, by Hetty Saunders.
For my book of the year, however, there is only one contender. John Lister-Kaye is – and I am sure he won’t mind me saying this – an “old” nature writer, who has delighted his legion of readers since the early 70s. His memoir, The Dun Cow Rib: A Very Natural Childhood (Canongate), is the perfect winter read: funny, moving and packed with evocative recollections of a 50s childhood, lived under the shadow of his mother’s chronic illness. Never once does he succumb to self-pity. His accounts of adventures as a (mostly) free-range child exploring the wonders of the natural world are simply delightful.
Stephen Moss’s latest book is The Robin: A Biography (Square Peg). To buy a copy for £8.49, go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion