Non-fiction

In 2003 Dave Goulson bought a derelict farm in the heart of rural France, together with 33 acres of surrounding meadow. Over the course of a decade, he created a place for his beloved bumblebees to thrive along with myriad insects of every kind. In this book you will learn how a deathwatch beetle finds its mate, about the importance of houseflies, why butterflies have spots on their wings, about dragonfly sex, bed-bugs and wasps. But it is also a wake-up call, urging us to cherish and protect...

Dave Goulson has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees. Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-haired bumblebee is now extinct in the UK, but still exists in the wilds of New Zealand, descended from a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century. A Sting in the Tale tells the...

Despite originating over than two-and-a-half thousand years ago, Aesop's Fables are still passed on from parent to child, and are embedded in our collective consciousness. The morals we have learned from these tales continue to inform our judgements, but have the stories also informed how we regard their animal protagonists? If so, is there any truth behind the stereotypes? Are wolves deceptive villains? Are crows insightful geniuses? And could a tortoise really beat a hare in a race? In Aeso...

This animal encyclopedia with a twist showcases more than 100 animals in close-up detail. Arranged from biggest to smallest, the wildlife of the world is revealed with stunning photography and gorgeous illustrations. The storybook descriptions will delight children and let them discover amazing animal facts, such as why the slow-motion sloth is so sluggish and how the plodding pangolin protects itself from predators, as well as some of the stories and myths surrounding their favorite beasts. ...

Cats, cats, and more cats! Expressive or aloof, affectionate or enigmatic, cats have complicated characters that make them compelling artists' muses. Artful Cats explores the quirky and charming relationships of artists with their cats in 130 rarely seen photos, paintings, sketches, manuscripts, and letters from the Archives of American Art. Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Louise Nevelson, Marcel Breuer, Yves Tanguy, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Weston, Robert Indiana, Judy Chicago, Berenice Abbott, ...

At the start of the nineteenth century, John James Audubon embarked upon an epic ornithological quest across America with nothing but his artist's materials, an assistant, a gun and an all-consuming passion for birds... This beautiful volume tells the story of an incredible artist and adventurer: one who encapsulates the spirit of early America, when the wilderness felt limitless and was still greatly unexplored. Based on Audubon's own retellings, this graphic novel version of his travels cap...

A hunt for the world's most elusive bees leads Dave Goulson from Poland to Patagonia as well as closer to home, amongst the secret places hidden right under our noses: the abandoned industrial estates where great crested newts roam; or the rewilded estate at Knepp Castle, where, with the aid of some hairy, bluebell-eating Tamworth pigs, nightingale song has been heard for the first time in generations. Whether he is tracking great yellow bumblebees in the Hebrides or chasing orchid bees throu...

Birdpedia is an engaging illustrated compendium of bird facts and birding lore. Featuring nearly 200 entries-on topics ranging from plumage and migration to birds in art, literature, and folklore-this enticing collection is brimming with wisdom and wit about all things avian. Christopher Leahy sheds light on "hawk-watching," "twitching," and other rituals from the sometimes mystifying world of birding that entail a good deal more than their names imply. He explains what kind of bird's nests y...

A lyrical celebration of birdsong, and the rekindling of a deep passion for nature. "At this time of year, blackbirds never simply fly: instead, like reluctantly retired officers, they're always 'on manoeuvres', and it's easy to see from their constant agitation that for them every flower bed is a bunker, every shed a redoubt and every hedge-bottom a potential place of ambush" As the world went silent in lockdown, something else happened; for the first time, many of us started becoming more a...

Did you know that there are roughly 400,000 different species of beetles? These incredible creatures make up about 25% of all animals on our planet! Beetles are superbly adapted to life in various climates across the world, wherever trees and flowers are found. From the mighty Goliath beetle to the beautiful iridescent scarab beetle, this captivating and stunningly illustrated guide will teach you everything you need to know about these fascinating insects.Hardback: 40 PagesProduct Dimensions...

Hokkien Button is no ordinary dog. She was trained as a therapy pet who understands Hokkien, winning the hearts of many. When Fiona first meets Button, something clicks. Here is a loveable dog who is being mistreated and unloved. So Fiona decides to steal her, and they soon transform each other’s lives. In fact, Fiona used to have a terrible fear of dogs—so how does she become the founder of Hope Dog Rescue, saving strays and finding them forever homes? For her part, Button learns affection a...

Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In Buzz, the award-winning author of Feathers and The Triumph of Seeds takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when a wasp first dared to feed pollen to its young. From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, ...

From the milk we drink in the morning to the leather shoes we slip on for the day, to the steak we savour at dinner, our daily lives are thoroughly bound up with the cow. Yet there is a far more complex story behind this seemingly benign creature, which Hannah Velten explores here, plumbing the rich trove of myth, fact and legend surrounding the cow, bull and ox. From the plowing field to the rodeo to the temple, Velten tracks the constantly changing social relationship between men and cattle...

Did you know that the fishing cat has partially webbed paws for catching fish? Or that pumas can leap over 15 feet into trees? There are roughly 38 species of cats today, each one superbly adapted to their environment - whether that be in the rainforest or the desert! This captivating and stunningly illustrated guide will teach you everything you need to know about our feline friends.Hardback: 40 PagesProduct Dimensions: 240 x 300 mmISBN: 9781911171164Published by Flying Eye Books

From the Common Swift, which can stay in the air continuously without landing for up to ten months at a time, to the tiny Goldcrest, Europe’s smallest bird, which can lay a clutch of a dozen eggs in two weeks totaling one-and-one-half times its body weight, the class of animals we call birds is filled with incredible feats of beauty, intellect, and wonder. With enthralling facts, humorous anecdotes, and gorgeous artwork, artist Misha Blaise pays loving homage to these amazing beings that popu...

One night Mark Cocker followed the roiling, deafening flock of rooks and jackdaws which regularly passed over his Norfolk home on their way to roost in the Yare valley. From the moment he watched the multitudes blossom as a mysterious dark flower above the woods, these gloriously commonplace birds became for Cocker a fixation and a way of life. Journeying across Britain, through spectacular failures, magical successes and epiphanies, Cocker uncovers the mysteries of these birds' inner lives.P...

From Tyrannosaurus and saber-toothed cats, to ferns and woolly mammoths, every page will captivate young readers as they travel through the history of the Earth. This collection of amazing dinosaurs, plants, and other prehistoric life will wow children and many adults, too. Showcasing more than 90 remarkable fossils, such as a fearsome Tyrannosaurus skull, delicate fern leaf, and perfectly preserved woolly mammoth, everyone will find something to be captivated by. Each plant or animal is show...

The tale--or tail?--of the canine has been fundamentally entwined with humanity since prehistory, and this ancient and fascinating story is told in Susan McHugh's Dog. This book unravels the debate about whether dogs are descended from wolves and moves on to deal with canines in mythology, religion, and health; explore dog cults in ancient and medieval civilizations as disparate as Alaska, Greece, Peru, and Persia; and trace correspondences between the histories of dogs in the Far East, Europ...

How did we arrive at the moment when a dog goes to the cinema? How did we realise that dogs could assist humans not only in hunting, but also in bomb disposal and cancer detection? When did pawsecco and naps on a luxury bed replace the scavenging of their wolf ancestors? From the first glimpses of our early bond on ancient rock art to the latest scientific and psychological insights, from the Corgis at the Palace to the true story of the Labradoodle, Dog's Best Friend is the story of a relati...

Although it might seem the most mundane of fish when pulled from the mud of creeks, ponds, rivers or the sea, the eel's life cycle is one of the most remarkable on the planet. Freshwater eels are born, according to current scientific theory, in remote ocean depths, and journey thousands of miles to fresh water where they spend their lives, before returning to the ocean to mate and die. A favourite food for humans since antiquity, feeding London's poor during the Middle Ages, and saving the Ma...

Did you know that there are over 4,000 known species of frog? Some are bigger than your dinner plate, while others are small enough to sit on your fingernail, and in between is about every colour and size you can imagine! Leap into this fascinating illustrated guide to the most diverse amphibians in the world, from the lumbering common toad to the beautiful but deadly poison dart frog.Hardback: 40 PagesProduct Dimensions: 240 x 300 mmISBN: 9781912497058Published by Flying Eye Books

There is no real evidence that humans ever 'domesticated' cats. Rather, it seems that at some point cats saw the potential value to themselves of humans. John Gray's wonderful new book is an attempt to get to grips with the philosophical and moral issues around the uniquely strange relationship between ourselves and these remarkable animals. Feline Philosophy draws on centuries of philosophy, from Montaigne to Schopenhauer, to explore the complex and intimate links that have defined how we re...

Four- Legged Therapy is a delightfully illustrated collection of ten stories that recognise the therapeutic value of having animals in our lives. A charming exploration of how pets can support our minds and bodies in everyday life. From grumpy cats, fat dogs and muddy ducks to goats in a classroom and rescue-hens in a care home, this book recognises animals as the unsung heroes that save lives and make life worth living. Animals offer companionship, love and fun. They teach us the gift of kin...

For thirteen years Dian Fossey lived and worked with Uncle Bert, Flossie, Beethoven, Pantsy and Digit in the remote rain forests of the volcanic Virunga Mountains in Africa, establishing an unprecedented relationship with these shy and affectionate beasts. In her base camp, 10,000 feet above sea-level, she struggled daily with rain, loneliness and the ever-constant threat of poachers who slaughtered her beloved gorillas with horrifying ferocity. African adventure, personal quest and scientifi...

HABIT©AT is an inquiry into how street cats in Singapore inhabit the man-made spaces of the suburban landscapes. This publication explores the intrinsic relationship between cats and their surrounding, encouraging the viewing of our urban landscape not simply as public space but one charged with possibilities through the cats’ adaptive appropriation. Their ability to discern subtle qualities and identify ‘gifts’ from the surrounding is a wisdom that human beings can humbly learn from and appl...

illustrated by Jarom Vogel Since horses were first domesticated thousands of years ago, these iconic animals have been a part of human history--they've plowed our fields, pulled our carts, fought in our wars and been our beloved companions. Journey through the history of human and horse interaction in this beautifully illustrated history from the steady hand of American illustrator Jarom Vogel!Hardback: 48 PagesProduct Dimensions: 245 x 305 mmISBN: 9781911171324Published by Flying Eye Books

In Letters of Note: Cats, Shaun Usher collects together the most engaging missives that celebrate, eulogise, rail against and analyse the idiosyncratic ways of our feline companions. Includes letters by Nikola Tesla, Elizabeth Taylor, Charles Dickens, Anne Frank, T.S. Eliot, Raymond Chandler, John Cheever, Florence Nightingale, Rachel Carson, Jack Lemmon & many more.Paperback: 144 PagesProduct Dimensions: 111 x 178 mm ISBN: 9781786895547Published by Canongate

Its hooves were supposedly a cure for epilepsy, it is the mascot of the clothing company Abercrombie and Fitch, and its meat is a delicacy. The moose is a fascinating but elusive animal of the north, and its little-known natural history is the focus of Kevin Jackson's engaging new book. Moose explains the animal's behaviour, evolution and diet, and describes its natural environments around the world, including in the USA, Canada and Scandinavia, where the moose is the national animal of Swede...

My Dog Eats Better Than Me is a collection of recipes, tips and advice for dog lovers who understand that dogs are family and deserve to be catered for accordingly with nourishing, healthy, considered meals and treats. Fiona Rigg and Jacqui Melville make this possible with more than 60 recipes across multiple chapters, from biscuits to main meals, from puppies to doggie celebrations. This fully photographed, beautiful book (starring a cast of pooches, big, small and in-between) offers tips on...

Hope, as Emily Dickinson famously wrote, is the thing with feathers. Erik Anderson, on the other hand, regards our obsession with birds as too sentimental, too precious. Birds don't express hope. They express themselves. But this tension between the versions of nature that lodge in our minds and the realities that surround us is the central theme of Bird. This is no field guide. It's something far more unusual and idiosyncratic, balancing science with story, anatomy with metaphor, habitat wit...

Did you know that an octopus has three hearts? And that they are particularly intelligent, with some being known to use tools? Dive into this fascinating illustrated guide all about the aliens of the deep. From the truly terrifying giant Pacific octopus to the inventive common octopus, find out where they live, what they eat and how we can protect them.Hardback: 40 PagesProduct Dimensions: 230 x 290 mmISBN: 9781912497195Published by Flying Eye Books

The writers and poets collected within this delectable anthology reflect on the joys and pitfalls of dog ownership with wit and affection. From Roald Amundsen’s account of using sled dogs in his expedition to the South Pole to J.R. Ackerley’s tender portrayal of his ill-behaved dog Tulip, On Dogs traces the canine’s journey from working animal to pampered pet. With a humorous introduction by Tracey Ullman (an inveterate adopter of strays), and 6 arresting dog portraits by international photog...

What if intelligent life on earth not only evolved on land, but also in the sea? Other Minds is a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself - a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind's fitful development over millennia, Other Minds explores the incredible evolutionary journey of the cephalopods. What kind of intelligence do they possess? And how did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? Heralded as...

People in most countries are familiar with the blue peacock. It is one of the very few bird species that will tolerate a person standing within a few feet of it, and appears to appreciate an audience when it unfurls its magnificent train into a 6 7-foot arc of glittering iridescent feathers. The train feathers with their eye-spots have been prized possessions for centuries. The first record of a peacock in the Middle East, taken there from its homeland in the Indus Valley, was when King Solom...

Every year, wild salmon travel hundreds of miles upstream. They fight fierce river currents, leap over rocks and small waterfalls, and die by the thousands of starvation, disease and exposure to cold. Even if they surmount these obstacles the fish risk becoming dinner for hungry predators like bears, birds and humans. Guided by a keen sense of smell, the survivors travel to their original hatching grounds, where they breed, spawn and die in a short space of time. Inspired by the remarkable ho...

For most of us, snails do not elicit feelings of warmth or affection. Apart from our repugnance at its appearance, our relationship with the snail has been influenced by the harm it has inflicted over the years on our garden seedlings. With Snail, Peter Williams wishes to change our perspectives on this little but much maligned creature. Beginning with an overview of our relationship with snails, slugs and sea-snails, Williams goes on to examine snail evolution; snail behaviour and habitat; s...

Of more than 8,000 bird species, the swan is surely one of the most easily recognised. Airborne, the swan is a majestic sight: with its long, slender neck outstretched, it glides gracefully with slow, strong wing-beats. Its large webbed feet and short legs, which make it awkward on land, propel it serenely and effortlessly through water. Swan is a comprehensive natural and cultural history of this most dignified of birds. Peter Young relates the natural history of the swan: its elegant exteri...

Animal Ethics has long been a highly contested area with debates driven by unease about various forms of animal harm, from the use of animals in scientific research to the farming of animals for consumption. The Basics: Animal Ethics is an essential introduction to the key considerations surrounding the ethical treatment of animals. Taking a thematic approach, it outlines the current arguments from animal agency to the emergence of the 'political turn'. This book explores such questions as: C...

Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research, Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest find...

Oxana Timofeeva's The History of Animals: A Philosophy is an original and ambitious treatment of the "animal question". While philosophers have always made distinctions between human beings and animals, Timofeeva imagines a world free of such walls and borders. Timofeeva shows the way towards the full acceptance of our animality; an acceptance which does not mean the return to our animal roots, or anything similar. The freedom generated by this acceptance operates through negativity; is an ef...

How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shape they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of an eggshell created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first – the blunt end or the pointy end? These are just some of the questions The Most Perfect Thing answers, as the journey of a bird's egg from creation and fertilisation to its eventual hatching is examined, with current scientific k...

The dinosaurs. Sixty-six million years ago, the Earth's most fearsome creatures vanished. Today they remain one of our planet's great mysteries. Now The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs reveals their extraordinary, 200-million-year-long story as never before. In this captivating narrative (enlivened with more than seventy original illustrations and photographs), Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field-naming fifteen new species a...

The idea of a trained cat is a contradiction in terms, isn't it? Naturally solitary, wary, easily threatened by newcomers, they are attached to place rather than people, and much of their 'antisocial' behaviour arises in situations where that attachment is threatened. But, as cat experts Sarah Ellis and John Bradshaw argue, such stress-induced behaviour can be prevented, reduced, even eliminated, by training. A comprehensive and engaging step-by-step guide, The Trainable Cat will help you to ...

On a barren seafloor, the pearlfish swims into the safety of a sea cucumber's anus. To find a meal, the female bolas spider releases pheromones that mimic a female moth, luring male moths into her sticky lasso web. The Glyptapanteles wasp injects a caterpillar with her young, which feed on the victim, erupt out of it, then mind-control the poor (and somehow still living) schmuck into protecting them from predators. These are among the curious critters of The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpil...

The idea that some people think differently, though no less humanly, is explored in this inspiring book. Temple Grandin is a gifted and successful animal scientist, and she is autistic. Here she tells us what it was like to grow up perceiving the world in an entirely concrete and visual way - somewhat akin to how animals think, she believes - and how it feels now. Through her finely observed understanding of the workings of her mind, she gives us an invaluable insight into autism and its chal...

Equipped with little more than a notebook, binoculars, and her fascination with wildlife, Jane braved a realm of unknowns to give the world a remarkable window into humankind's closest living relatives. On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, Gombe is a community where the principal residents are chimpanzees. Through Goodall's eyes we watch as the younger chimpanzees vie for power, and how the leaders must deal with this challenge. We learn how one mother successfully rears her children, whilst ano...

From Kitten Lady, the professional kitten rescuer, humane educator, animal advocate, and owner of the popular Instagram @kittenxlady comes the definitive book on saving the most vulnerable--and adorable--feline population: newborn kittens. Hannah Shaw, better known as Kitten Lady, has dedicated her life to saving the tiniest felines, but one doesn't have to be a professional kitten rescuer to change--and save--lives. In Tiny but Mighty, Hannah not only outlines the dangers newborn kittens fac...

‘Adoption’ is the new badge of honour; Adoption is the new ‘Black’. We Adopted is an anthology of modern, real life fairy tales of doggie salvation. It features some of the most incredible comeback stories, tales of resilience, forgiveness, trust, love, human cruelty, greed and miracle rebounds, dogs on the brink of death and the owners who never gave up on them. Most of the dogs in this book have been through their own personal Hell. Every single one at the hands of a species called Humans. ...