Product Description

An inspirational, visually stunning and definitive guide to British wildlife

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44734 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Synopsis
"The Nature of Britain" is another landmark primetime series brought to us by the formidable Natural History Unit. In each programme Alan turns wildlife detective, taking us on a journey of discovery through eight different British natural habitats and their unique flora and fauna, week by week piecing together the jigsaw that makes up our homeland. Tying in with the series, "The Nature of Britain" is an inspirational, practical and definitive guide to British wildlife. Written by Alan, the book offers the reader a closer look at the animals and plants of Britain's landscape, following the structure of the series with chapters ranging from Mountains, Lakes, Forests and Seashores to Urban Landscapes."The Nature of Britain" paints a beautiful contemporary portrait of Britains wildlife, and features fascinating essays on each habitat, followed by identification guides to the species that can be found in each one. It will be visually stunning, illustrated with over 900 breathtaking images.

About the Author
Alan Titchmarsh is the author of over thirty gardening books, including How To Be A Gardener 1 and 2, and is also a best-selling novelist. In 2004 his book British Isles - A Natural History was published to great acclaim, and he also presented the series that the book accompanied. Alan was the long-time presenter of BBC2's Gardeners' World and led the team on the hugely popular Ground Force series on BBC1. He was appointed an MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours List, for services to horticulture and to broadcasting.

Customer Reviews

As a celebration of our wildlife, this book is a triumph
I was given this book as a present for Christmas by my family. Within the last year, I have developed a true love of nature, so this seemed like the perfect gift. To be honest, looking at the Amazon page, I am quite surprised that THE NATURE OF BRITAIN has received such mixed reviews. One has said that the book is not definitive - well, perhaps this is the case, but it is meant to be a celebration of our landscape and our wildlife, and in this sense it is a triumph.

The book is divided into different sections covering different habitats; woodland, coast and islands, fields and meadows etc. Similar to the BBC series which accompanies this book, there are glorious colour photographs to bring to life what is being described.

As a book which can be enjoyed by people with all levels of knowledge about the British Isles and its flora and fauna, I think this is a great book to admire and to ignite passion for the subject.
Do not treat this as the definitive guide to what is to be found within our great countries; treat it as a way of opening up the natural world that is around you. Hopefully it shall then inspire you to go off and experience more.

hardly the definitive guide to Britain's wildlife
In some way it is pretty depressing that there exists a market for this kind of rubbish. Undoubtedly it is dressed up well with some good photographs but underneath it is mutton. Does Britain's nature have to play second to the Titchmarsh ego? And instead of the rose-tinted spectacles could we not have an unclouded view of the little wildlife we have?
Out of interest I wondered how the author would describe the marvel that is a British blanket bog and square this with his use of peat in his other job. I was unsurprised to find peat bogs are given a single boxed paragraph largely saying you should stick to the boardwalks as the bog tends to be wet. On the same page is a picture of a moss that is described as a species of Sphagnum but is actually a completely different kind of moss. Aside from apparently not knowing what Sphagnum looks like, and being seemingly unaware that there is more than one species of it (there are about 30 and some are rare) the author recommends we pull some up and squeeze it to see the water pour out. Enough said.
Maybe I should be less critical but the book is billed as the definitive guide - it isn't. It is a coffee table book for people whose only interest in nature is that it looks nice. If you want something decent go for superb wildlife writing like Mark Cocker's 'Crow Country' or Roger Deakin's 'Wildwood' or something from Collins' New Naturalist series such as Oliver Rackham's 'Woodland'. And if you honestly just want a coffee table book buy the collection of landscape photographer of the year.

A Must Have Book
I saw this fantastic book brand new on the Library themed recommended table as I was on my way out so I borrowed it and I already love it so much have decided to buy my own copy and let someone else borrow it from the Library and get pleasure from it.