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Review
"An enchanting book... elegiac" --Express, Peter Burton
"delightful, soothing and informative, [a] rural ramble round and about a village in the company of this expert naturalist." --Daily Mail, Peter Lewis
`delightful, soothing and informative', `This rural ramble round and about a village in the company of this expert naturalist is best enjoyed in monthly mouthfuls' --Daily Mail
'An enchanting book, Wild Hares And Hummingbirds is a combination of celebration for what is and regret for what is passing. It is elegiac.' --Daily Express
`Delightful, soothing and informative' --Daily Mail
`An enchanting book, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is a combination of celebration for what is and regret for what is passing. It is elegiac' --Express
"delightful, soothing and informative, [a] rural ramble round and about a village in the company of this expert naturalist." --Daily Mail, Peter Lewis
`delightful, soothing and informative', `This rural ramble round and about a village in the company of this expert naturalist is best enjoyed in monthly mouthfuls' --Daily Mail
'An enchanting book, Wild Hares And Hummingbirds is a combination of celebration for what is and regret for what is passing. It is elegiac.' --Daily Express
`Delightful, soothing and informative' --Daily Mail
`An enchanting book, Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is a combination of celebration for what is and regret for what is passing. It is elegiac' --Express
Book Description
A Natural History of Selbourne for a new generation - nature-writing at its finest, expressed through the natural history of one very special place.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a wonderful book for any keen or budding naturalist. Stephen Moss is well known to many for his distinguished career with the BBC Natural History unit and the ideal author of a nature diary. Here he follows in Gilbert White's footsteps, with a 305 page, one year nature diary about his home village of Mark, in the Somerset Levels. Having moved from London for a better quality of life in rural surroundings "the best thing we ever did", most folks in Mark must own a copy of the book. However, it is for any nature lover in the UK or abroad, the style of writing will inspire and inform. Even the most avid naturalist will learn new snippets of information on animals, insects, birds and plants. Hares and Hummingbird Hawkmoths are just two of the village inhabitants featured. There are no photos in this book, but there is an attractive cover and several scraperboard illustrations. Do not let this put you off buying this book, but let us hope that, like Gilbert White's book, illustrated version(s) appear in future!
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Taking his inspiration from Gilbert White's landmark 1789 book The Natural History of Selborne, Stephen Moss spends a year watching the wildlife in one particular country parish -- in this case, centred on his home village of Marsh, in the Somerset Marches. "By looking in depth at what happens here", Moss writes, "I hope to reveal a broader truth about the current fortunes of our countryside, its people, and its wildlife." His knowledge of, and sympathetic understanding of, the countryside and the natural world suffuses every page of this charming nature diary.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is a rather wonderful book that draws inspiration from the classic The Natural History of Selborne (Penguin English Library)
Wild Hares takes us through a calendar year in the Somerset village of Mark. With the Mendips in the background, Exmoor just over the horizon and waters of the Bristol Channel washing at its feet, Mark in a village on the Somerset Levels. In many ways it is - to quote Piglet - entirely surrounded in water.
The Levels are a manufactured landscape, but for all of that they are rich in wildlife. This book is a beautiful introduction to the rhythms of this landscape and its wildlife. While not being a book only about birds, they are heavily featured in the book - but given their importance as markers of the turning of this year this is hardly a surprise.
The book is a gentle walk through a special part of the UK - and the use of the term "gentle" here is not a criticism. The writing clearly shows the affection the author has developed for his adopted home county.
For all that enjoyed the book I did notice I few sentences that I think are worthy of comment. The author poses the question that if we lose species that our grandparent took for granted can we still call anywhere the countryside? Well, I would say the answer is clearly `yes'. It's a different countryside, one that needs protection and help, but its countryside none the less. It's true that most of the changes that have occurred since the end of WWII have damaged it from an ecological point of view - but it is still a wonderful and precious place. The presence of egrets on the Levels may be a sign of problems yet to come - but they would have never been seen by our grandparents. And are they not a remarkable thing in their own right?
For all the concerns the author raises, near the end of the book he concludes that he will "never get bored with what I see, hear and find in this country parish". I many, many ways this is a sentiment I could apply to this book.
Highly recommended.
I think it is only fair to see that this review may have been influenced by the fact that as migrant from the UK I found the description of my home county to be wonderfully accurate. The landscape in the book was as familiar as the one I explored and fished in for many years - I may be biased - but at least I'm honest!
Wild Hares takes us through a calendar year in the Somerset village of Mark. With the Mendips in the background, Exmoor just over the horizon and waters of the Bristol Channel washing at its feet, Mark in a village on the Somerset Levels. In many ways it is - to quote Piglet - entirely surrounded in water.
The Levels are a manufactured landscape, but for all of that they are rich in wildlife. This book is a beautiful introduction to the rhythms of this landscape and its wildlife. While not being a book only about birds, they are heavily featured in the book - but given their importance as markers of the turning of this year this is hardly a surprise.
The book is a gentle walk through a special part of the UK - and the use of the term "gentle" here is not a criticism. The writing clearly shows the affection the author has developed for his adopted home county.
For all that enjoyed the book I did notice I few sentences that I think are worthy of comment. The author poses the question that if we lose species that our grandparent took for granted can we still call anywhere the countryside? Well, I would say the answer is clearly `yes'. It's a different countryside, one that needs protection and help, but its countryside none the less. It's true that most of the changes that have occurred since the end of WWII have damaged it from an ecological point of view - but it is still a wonderful and precious place. The presence of egrets on the Levels may be a sign of problems yet to come - but they would have never been seen by our grandparents. And are they not a remarkable thing in their own right?
For all the concerns the author raises, near the end of the book he concludes that he will "never get bored with what I see, hear and find in this country parish". I many, many ways this is a sentiment I could apply to this book.
Highly recommended.
I think it is only fair to see that this review may have been influenced by the fact that as migrant from the UK I found the description of my home county to be wonderfully accurate. The landscape in the book was as familiar as the one I explored and fished in for many years - I may be biased - but at least I'm honest!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wild hares and humming birds
Highly interesting, a worthy read. I have learnt many new facts regarding nature.
I would recommend this book to anyone who are especially interested in the British... Read more
I would recommend this book to anyone who are especially interested in the British... Read more
Published 3 months ago by md
Excellent book!
I am seventy years of age and absolutely loved this book. It brought back many memories from my own childhood, having been brought up on my parents farm... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. Kerry D. Beck
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