Natural History

‘For some scientific questions, Antarctica is the best – and sometimes the only – place to look for answers. Visiting this frozen landscape is to gain a fresh perspective on our world, almost like going to another planet and looking back with renewed wonder on Earth.’ In Science on Ice, award-winni... read more

 
‘Visiting this frozen landscape is to gain a fresh perspective on our world, almost like going to another planet and looking back with renewed wonder on Earth.’
 
Award-winning science broadcaster and writer Veronika Meduna has produced a stunning book about the exhilarating landscape... read more

Air sustains the living. Every creature breathes to live, exchanging and changing the atmosphere. Water and dust spin and rise, make clouds and fall again, fertilizing the dirt. Twenty thousand fungal spores and half a million bacteria travel in a square foot of summer air. The chemical sense of aphids, the ultraviolet sight ... read more

Plants are so ubiquitous, such a common feature of the world around us, that we rarely stop to consider the profound impact they have on our everyday lives. We give flowers on special occasions, spend many dedicated hours nurturing gardens, use them for dyes and construction, and turn them into cosmetics and medicines. We are... read more

In this revelatory book, Callum Roberts uses his lifetime's experience working with the oceans to show why they are the most mysterious places on earth, their depths still largely unexplored.
In The Ocean of Life we get a panoramic tour beneath the seas: Why do currents circulate the way do? Where exactly do they ... read more

A fascinating celebration of some of the oldest living organisms on the planet, from the grand Oaks of Europe and mighty Redwoods of California to Africa’s ‘upside-down’ Baobab tree and from the Ginkgos of China and Korea to the Olive tree, the worldwide symbol of peace. Ancient Trees covers those species of... read more

The honey bee is a miracle. It is the cupid of the natural world. It pollinates crops; making plants bear fruit and helping farmers make money. But in this age of vast industrial agribusiness, never before has so much been asked of such a small wonder. And never before has its survival been so unclear - and the future of our ... read more

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The Beekeeper's Lament by Hannah Nordhaus is a wonderful read. The author follows US beekeeper ... read more

Beautiful Ducks plucks 40 of the world's most distinctive duck breeds from the pond and displays them in all their glory. Stylishly lit and shot against draped backgrounds, these sitting ducks are prize-winning examples that have been primped and preened for their moment in the spotlight. They reveal not only a surprising div... read more

Horses have played a central role in human societies for millennia, and this magnificently written and beautifully illustrated volume celebrates that long, eventful history. It pays homage not only to the physical splendor of the horse - its grace, beauty, strength and adaptability - but also to its remarkable diversity. Eque... read more

This fascinating book charts the relationship between Mark Rowlands, a rootless philosopher, and Brenin, his extraordinarily well-travelled wolf. More than just an exotic pet, Brenin exerted an immense influence on Rowlands as both a person, and, strangely enough, as a philosopher, leading him to re-evaluate his attitude to l... read more

The Philosopher and the Wolf by Mark Rowlands has been around for quite some time, but I've only just got around to reading it - it is just great! Rowlands was a Philosophy lecturer at a University in USA when he bought a wolf cub. The book tells the story of their 11 years together along with the philosophical ideas ... read more

Born Wild is a story of passion, adventure and skulduggery on the frontline of African conservation. Following Tony Fitzjohn's journey from London bad boy to African wildlife warrior, the heart of the story is a series of love affairs with the world's most beautiful and endangered creatures - affairs that so often end in pain... read more

For as long as he can remember, Ben Fogle has been surrounded by creatures great and small. As a young boy his best friends were Liberty and Lexington, the family dogs. Then there was Milly the puma-sized cat, Jaws the goldfish and three very 'charismatic' parrots, not to mention a whole host of weird and wonderful animals th... read more

Forthcoming, October 2012

Timber is a vital resource that is all around us. It is the house that shelters us, the furniture we relax in, the books we read, the paper we print, the disposable diapers for our babies and the boxes that contain our cereal, detergent and new appliances. The way we produce and consume timber, however, is changing. With inte... read more

Drawing on the wisdom of an eclectic range of thinkers and writers, on medieval calendars and manorial records and, as ever, on Tom's own honestly recounted and frequently imperfect attempts to travel the road to self-sufficiency, Brave Old World is designed to give us all hope. Why, he asks, shouldn't we return to the ideals... read more

A collection of over 200 photographs from the landmark BBC series that takes you across the world to experience some of the spectacles on earth. It unlocks the secrets of the skies and offers a glimpse into a previously inaccessible world. It offers a study of natural flight.

The bright orange and black monarch is arguably the world’s best-loved butterfly, and has become New Zealand’s most domesticated and observed one. This book is a response to the unique educational opportunity that the monarch offers. Many New Zealand children have had their first fascinating introduction to biolog... read more

This is an enlighteningly grotesque illustrated introduction to the omnipresent cockroach. The worlds city dwellers, especially in places like Manhattan, grow accustomed to having several hundred uninvited house guests in their homes at all times: cockroaches. Slinking in the shadowy hollows between walls, under sinks, and al... read more

Colin Elford spends his days alone - alone but for the deer, the squirrels, the rabbits, the birds, and the many other creatures inhabiting the woods. From the crisp cold of January, through the promise of spring and the heat of summer, and then into damp autumn and the chill winds of winter, we accompany the forest-ranger as... read more

Ten years ago, "Walking with Dinosaurs" brought this species to life with groundbreaking CGI and new science. Since then we have entered into a golden age of dinosaur discoveries and in this explosive new book to accompany the landmark BBC series, we discover more monstrous, more horrific and more bizarre dinosaurs than we've... read more

Remarkable discoveries from recent research on wild animals. This book's title refers to new research revealing that almost every cheetah litter has two or more fathers. This phenomenon has two major benefits: the cubs are more genetically diverse, and the chances of the young being killed by an adult male are reduced. This i... read more

The Collins Pocket Guide to New Zealand Minibeasts is a guide to over 120 species of ‘minibeasts’, from earthworms and leeches to springtails and sand scarabs. A practical and portable reference guide, it provides the basic information necessary to identify the most commonly encountered minibeasts in New Zealand. ... read more

Forthcoming, May 2013