Books by John Lewis-Stempel

_________________'BRITAIN'S FINEST LIVING NATURE WRITER' - THE TIMESWINNER OF THE THWAITES WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2015What really goes on in the long grass?Meadowland gives an unique and intimate account of an English meadow's life from January to December, together with its biography.

But owls - with the sapient flatness of their faces, their big, round eyes, their paternal expressions - are also reassuringly familiar.

The extraordinary story of British junior officers in the First World War, who led their men out of the trenches and faced a life expectancy of six weeks.

Brought to you by Penguin. "e;How to describe the ecstatic song of larks? How the writers and poets have tried..."e;Skylarks are the heralds of our countryside. Their music is the quintessential sound of spring. The spirit of English pastoralism, they inspire poets, composers and farmers alike. In the trenches of World War I they were a reminder of the chattering meadows of home. Perhaps you were up with the lark, or as happy as one. History has seen us poeticise and musicise the bird, but also capture and eat them. We watch as they climb the sky, delight in their joyful singing, and yet we harm them too. The Soaring life of the Lark explores the music and poetry; the breath-taking heights and struggle to survive of one of Britain's most iconic songbirds. (c) John Lewis-Stempel 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

To love and loathe the fox is a British condition."The fox is our apex predator, our most beautiful and clever killer.

______________BEST BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS 2019 - Daily MailBEST NATURE BOOKS OF THE YEAR, 2019 - The Times and Irish Independent'A beautifully written celebration of one of the natural world's most fertile founts of biodiversity and artistic inspiration ...

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR NATURE LOVERS'To see a hare sit still as stone, to watch a hare boxing on a frosty March morning, to witness a hare bolt . They are arrogant, as in Aesop's The Hare and the Tortoise, and absurd, as in Lewis Carroll's Mad March Hare.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER by 'Indisputably, one of the best nature-writers of his generation' (Country Life) BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week' Written in diary format, The Wood is the story of English woodlands as they change with the seasons.

The natural history of the Western Front during the First World War by the award-winning author of Meadowland

The Wild Life is John Lewis-Stempel's account of twelve months eating only food shot, caught or foraged from the fields, hedges, and brooks of his forty-acre farm.

The last untold story of the First World War: the fortunes and fates of 170,000 British soldiers captured by the enemy.

Traditional ploughland is disappearing. The corncrake is all but extinct in England. And the hare is running for its life. This book tells the story of the wild animals and plants that live in and under our ploughland, from microbes to the patrolling kestrel above the corn, from the linnet to seven-spot ladybirds that eat aphids that eat the crop.

A practical guide to finding and preparing food from hedgerows, parks, fields, woods, rivers and seashore. Aimed at the beginner, it also has a wealth of tips for the enthusiast, and, unlike other books on wild food, covers foraging in the urban environment as well as the countryside. The book shows the reader 'Where, How and When' to find the best edible berries, leaves, flowers, mushrooms, seaweed, shellfish and snails, with clear and full instructions on what is safe to eat. Foraging covers the 100 wild foods that are good to eat, fun to find, easy to identify - and will make a healthy difference to your diet and your bank balance. The book is organised by environment so when taking a walk, gardening, or having a day out you know how to gather a hedgerow harvest, a field feast, a seaside salad. Each entry features one species, and fully explains its looks, exactly where in the habitat it will be found, when it is ripe to eat, its alternative names, its history, how to harvest it, its culinary uses. There are full instructions too on preparation of each plant/fungi/animal, along with recipes for its use. Comfrey fritters, hazelnut pate, nettle beer,sorrel soup, dandelion coffee, blackberry jam....

With no modern drugs, and a lot of trial-and-error, James sets about learning how to treat the local farm animals and the pets of city folk. This book reveals a world now lost to us, showing how life in pre-war Britain changed an enthusiastic young student named Alf Wight into the man who would charm millions of readers the world over.

Fountainhead of democracy, engine of the Industrial Revolution, epicentre of the globe's greatest empire and the first-ditch stand against an expansionist Germany in two world wars: England's history is among the most fascinating and influential the world has ever known.This volume presents that history in unique form: first-hand, through the words of those who saw it and those who made it. All the great events of the last 2,000 years are here: the Norman Conquest, Magna Carta, the Peasants' Revolt, Henry VIII's break with Rome, the Great Fire of London, Nelson at Trafalgar, two world wars. Alongside these are the less obvious happenings which together capture the nation's social history, such as the Black Death of 1349 or life as a chimney sweep in 1817. And of couse there are the things that have shaped the nature of 'Englishness', like theatregoing in Elizabethan London, fox hunting in 1898, Oates's self-sacrifice at the South Pole, the Beatles and the 1966 World Cup.Presented chronologically and a joy to read whether cover-to-cover or dipped into as a treasury of sources, England: The Autobiography offers an intimate, vivid and revealing portrait of England and the English - and the unique place of both in world history.