Richard Mabey

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RICHARD JEFFRIES AWARD A WATERSTONES BEST NATURE WRITING BOOK OF 2024 PICKA BBC WILDLIFE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ''Delightful ... Mabey is the doyen of UK nature writing'' New Statesman''Both instructive and exciting, often ecstatic... Mabey is a great, pioneering nature writer'' Irish Times''Our greatest nature writer'' New ScientistWe regard gardens as our personal dominions, where we can create whatever worlds we desire. But they are also occupied by myriads of other organisms, all with their own lives to lead. The conflict between these two power bases, Richard Mabey suggests, is a microcosm of what is happening in the larger world. Rooted in the daily dramas of his own Norfolk garden, Mabey offers a different scenario, where nature becomes an equal partner, a ''gardener'' itself. Against a background of disordered seasons he watches his ''accidental'' garden reorganising itself. Ants sow cowslip seeds in the parched grass. Moorhens take to nesting in trees. A spectacular self-seeded rose springs up in the gravel. The garden becomes a place of cultural and ecological fusion, and perhaps a metaphor for the troubled planet. This is vintage Mabey - maverick, intensely observed, and written with an unquenchable sense of wonder.

Eminent and highly respected nature writer Richard Mabey regards Whistling in the Dark as one of his Top Ten most significant books. After being exceptionally well-received on publication, it remains the only title from his collection that is no longer in print, and the timing feels perfect to bring this cherished text back into circulation as a classic edition.Nightingales have acquired a newly high profile in the past couple of years, as a consequence of revelations about the collapse in their numbers and renewed interest on their cultural history. Each May there are now radio programmes broadcasting - sometimes live - songs and readings from woods in southern England.This new and fully revised edition of Whistling in the Dark promises to be richer than ever, featuring:New first-hand accounts of nightingale performances, capturing their ethereal beauty at home and across the globe.Insightful explorations into the bird’s recent population changes, unveiling possible causes behind their mysterious decline.A newly uncovered story detailing how the nightingale’s song featured in the iconic 1924 live BBC broadcast with cellist Beatrice Harrison was, in reality, the work of a remarkably talented human bird mimic.Cutting-edge scientific and philosophical perspectives on the profound relationship between birdsong and music.Whistling in the Dark will be accompanied by an enhanced audiobook adaptation with sound inserts – not just the nightingale’s song itself, but also medieval songs inspired by the bird, the poignant BBC recording of a nightingale singing amid the roar of bombers during WWII, and Messiaen’s evocative piano piece from Les Oiseaux.Praise for Whistling in the DarkA book so delightful I must share it. It is poetry and prose, natural history, memoir, myth and music...and is full of the same darting rhythms as that mysterious bird.Simon Jenkins, The TimesA pure pleasure to read. It stimulates, nudges, tells stories, argues and gleefully offends...I cannot remember liking a book about nature as much as this for years...It is a small classic.Peter Levi, Spectator What he accomplishes is exquisite and illuminating, itself a sort of nightingale''s song, variously throttling back for a sub-theme, then ingeniously improvising or swelling to full measure.Euan Dunn, The CountrymanMabey''s engaging book quests through fact, fantasy, zoological data...the contents move, inform and reward.Naomi Lewis, ObserverMabey is one of our best nature writers and he has produced a delightful book, as enlightening as it is uplifting...he has come up with some extraordinary accounts of the nightingale''s power to enchant.John Preston, Sunday Telegraph

This fully updated special edition of the classic complete guide to the edible species that grow around us includes a new foreword from the author and a plate section with identification guides for all major species. Originally published in 1972, Richard Mabey's classic foraging guide has never been out of print since. Food for Free is a complete guide to help you safely identify edible species that grow around us, together with detailed field identification notes and recipes. In this stunning 50th anniversary edition, Richard Mabey's updated text is accompanied by a wealth of practical information on identifying, collecting, cooking and preparing, as well as history and folklore. Informative illustrations of key species by expert botanical artists are included in a colour plate section. Beautifully written and produced in a new, readable format, Food for Free will inspire us to be more self-sufficient and make use of the natural resources around us to enhance our lives.

Britain's most-influential nature writer reflects on a lifetime of close observation and celebrates the positive force of the natural world. From the rediscovery of foraging that led to Food for Free, through his groundbreaking expeditions in the 'edgelands' in the 1970s, to his reflections on the musicality of bird-song, he has consistently explored new ways of thinking about nature and its relation to our lives. In Turning the Boat for Home, he introduces pieces from his rich writing life that reflect on how his ideas evolved. At the heart is a passionate belief that Earth is a commonwealth, of all species. Mabey recalls the fight against the commercial afforestation of the Scottish peatlands and recounts the experience of running a 'community woodland', one of the first in Britain. Plants, the organisms that underpin all life, have been a source of constant fascination. In his encyclopaedic Flora Britannica Mabey explored how deeply they are embedded in our popular culture. But they are also autonomous beings with their own agendas, as experienced in his own 'serendipitous' garden 'in which wild organisms improvise their own landscapes'. From a new viewpoint, 'the slow-moving carapace' of a boat on the Norfolk Broads, Mabey ponders the migration of geese and the home-loving whirligig beetles. His epiphany is that a sense of "neighbourliness" may be the best model for our relationship with the rest of the living world. Throughout there is a commitment to writing and to language, which may be 'our greatest ecological gift'. In a celebration that links the work of the poet John Clare with the political warnings of Rachel Carson, Mabey suggests that 'the answer to the still present threat of a silent spring is for us to sing against the storm.' 'Poised where nature meets culture, he [Richard Mabey] is knowledgeable, politically savvy and wry, and an excellent naturalist' New Statesman