Black Ops and Beaver Bombing

Black Ops and Beaver Bombing PDF

Author: Fiona Mathews

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-04-27

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0861545575

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From central Glasgow to rural Wiltshire, a husband-and-wife team track down Britain’s rarest and most enigmatic animals. 'Weasely my favourite book of the year.' Dave Goulson, author of Silent Earth A COUNTRYFILE AND WATERSTONES BEST NATURE BOOK OF 2023 Britain is teeming with wildlife, often in the most unexpected places. There are quarries where rare bats hang out with pot-smoking teens. In Glasgow’s urban parks water voles are thriving – without water. Our coastlines are bustling with grey and harbour seals. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a quarter of British mammals are at imminent risk of extinction. Tim Kendall and Fiona Mathews take us on a safari unlike any other. Armed with binoculars, a Thermos and, regrettably, an inexhaustible supply of puns, they travel from Scotland to the Isles of Scilly in search of their elusive subjects. You’ll find answers to questions you never thought to ask: Do pine marten droppings really smell like Parma Violets? Should we give squirrels access to family planning? And what do wild boar have in common with a certain royal? Black Ops and Beaver Bombing is a celebration of Britain’s marvellous mammals, and a rallying cry to save them. *** SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 'A cracking book, which shares fascinating stories from the new frontlines of nature conservation... readable and entertaining. The passion and humour of the authors comes through on every page.' Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts 'Elegiac, informative and funny; some truly magical encounters in the wild.' Peter Fiennes, author of Oak and Ash and Thorn 'Spring has barely ticked over into summer, but I’ve already found the book that I’ll be recommending for the rest of the year.' Countryfile 'Packed full of useful information and acutely up to date… As she's one of the ablest mammalogists of our age, it's well worth listening to Fiona Mathews. I would heartily recommend this book to all.' Derek Gow, author of Bringing Back the Beaver

Groundbreakers

Groundbreakers PDF

Author: Chantal Lyons

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-02-01

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1399401629

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'Full of joy, pathos, warmth, integrity and intrigue.' AMY-JANE BEER 'A thrilling expedition into a wild, unruly world.' LEE SCHOFIELD 'Gently thought-provoking and beautifully written.' LEIF BERSWEDEN 'A real page-turner.' STEPHEN MOSS After centuries of absence, wild boar are back in Britain. What does this mean for us – and them? Big, messy and mysterious – crossing paths with a wild boar can conjure fear and joy in equal measure. Driven to extinction seven hundred years ago, a combination of the species' own tenacity and illegal releases from the 1980s has seen several populations of this beast of myth begin to roam English and Scottish woods once more. With growing worry over the impacts on both people and the countryside, the boar's right to exist in Britain has been heavily debated. Their habitat-regenerating actions benefit a host of other wildlife, yet unlike beavers, these ecosystem engineers remain unloved by many. Why is there no clamour to reintroduce them across the land? And, with the few boar in England threatened by poaching and culling, why are we not doing more to prevent their re-extinction? In Groundbreakers, Chantal Lyons moves to the boar's stronghold of the Forest of Dean to get up close and personal with this complex, intelligent and quirky species, and she meets with people across Britain and beyond who celebrate their presence – or want them gone. From Toulouse and Barcelona where they are growing in number and boldness, to the woods of Kent and Sussex where they are fading away again, to Inverness-shire where rewilders welcome them, join Chantal on a journey of discovery as she reveals what it might take for us to coexist with wild boar.

The Art of Robert Frost

The Art of Robert Frost PDF

Author: Tim Kendall

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2012-05-29

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 0300118139

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Offers detailed accounts of sixty-five poems that span Frost's writing career and assesses the particular nature of the poet's style, discussing how it changes over time and relates to the works of contemporary poets and movements.

The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry

The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry PDF

Author: Tim Kendall

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2007-02-22

Total Pages: 771

ISBN-13: 0191569372

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Thirty-seven chapters, written by leading literary critics from across the world, describe the latest thinking about twentieth-century war poetry. The book maps both the uniqueness of each war and the continuities between poets of different wars, while the interconnections between the literatures of war and peacetime, and between combatant and civilian poets, are fully considered. The focus is on Britain and Ireland, but links are drawn with the poetry of the United States and continental Europe. The Oxford Handbook feeds a growing interest in war poetry and offers, in toto, a definitive survey of the terrain. It is intended for a broad audience, made up of specialists and also graduates and undergraduates, and is an essential resource for both scholars of particular poets and for those interested in wider debates about modern poetry. This scholarly and readable assessment of the field will provide an important point of reference for decades to come.

Modern English War Poetry

Modern English War Poetry PDF

Author: Tim Kendall

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2006-07-20

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0199276765

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Modern English War Poetry ranges widely across the twentieth century, incorporating detailed discussions of some of the most important poets of the period. It emphasizes the influence of war and war poetry even on those poets usually considered in other contexts, such as Ted Hughes and Geoffrey Hill.

Planet Earth

Planet Earth PDF

Author: John R. Gribbin

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1780740425

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A highly entertaining and accessible introduction to our planet from the bestselling author of In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, The Scientists, and In Search of the Multiverse In this lively expedition into the origins, evolution, and workings of our planet, John Gribbin does what he does best: gathers 4.5 billion years of geological history and shares the best bits. Taking an astronomer's perspective, Gribbin follows Earth's development from its beginnings in cosmic gas and dust to the explosion of human life after the last ice age, combining stories of scientific discovery with gripping accounts of geological activity - earthquakes, volcanoes, and climate change. Along the journey we consider Lord Kelvin's time-scale for the life of the sun; the meteorologist who first championed the idea of continental drift; and an intriguing proposal that Earth has expanded substantially in recent millennia. Told in Gribbin's dynamic and beloved voice, this is the perfect introduction to geology and an essential guidebook for anyone wanting to better appreciate the wonders of our shared home.

The Bedside Book of Beasts

The Bedside Book of Beasts PDF

Author: Graeme Gibson

Publisher: Nan a Talese

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0385524595

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A lavishly illustrated companion to The Bedside Book of Birds explores the relationships between predators and prey, drawing on mythology, nature writings, and other sources to provide coverage of both real and fictional creatures.

The Lost Art of Finding Our Way

The Lost Art of Finding Our Way PDF

Author: John Edward Huth

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2013-05-15

Total Pages: 539

ISBN-13: 0674072820

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Long before GPS, Google Earth, and global transit, humans traveled vast distances using only environmental clues and simple instruments. John Huth asks what is lost when modern technology substitutes for our innate capacity to find our way. Encyclopedic in breadth, weaving together astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, and ethnography, The Lost Art of Finding Our Way puts us in the shoes, ships, and sleds of early navigators for whom paying close attention to the environment around them was, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Haunted by the fate of two young kayakers lost in a fog bank off Nantucket, Huth shows us how to navigate using natural phenomena—the way the Vikings used the sunstone to detect polarization of sunlight, and Arab traders learned to sail into the wind, and Pacific Islanders used underwater lightning and “read” waves to guide their explorations. Huth reminds us that we are all navigators capable of learning techniques ranging from the simplest to the most sophisticated skills of direction-finding. Even today, careful observation of the sun and moon, tides and ocean currents, weather and atmospheric effects can be all we need to find our way. Lavishly illustrated with nearly 200 specially prepared drawings, Huth’s compelling account of the cultures of navigation will engross readers in a narrative that is part scientific treatise, part personal travelogue, and part vivid re-creation of navigational history. Seeing through the eyes of past voyagers, we bring our own world into sharper view.

Life Finds a Way

Life Finds a Way PDF

Author: Andreas Wagner

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2019-06-11

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1541645359

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How the principles of biological innovation can help us overcome creative challenges in art, business, and science In Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection--instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's forty-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing. By understanding these principles, we can also better realize our own creative potential to find new solutions to adversity. Ultimately, Life Finds a Way offers a new framework for the nature of creativity, enabling us to better adapt, grow, and change in art, business, or science--that is, in life.