'A masterpiece' - Daily Mail 'A brilliant gift for anyone who loves the countryside' - Independent 'A work of beauty, deeply informed, a fantastic gift.' - Saga 'Britain's finest nature writer' - Telegraph ' Assured and expert countryside writing' - TLS ' The nation's finest living nature writer' - The Lady 'His immense, patient powers of observation - along with a flair for the anthropomorphic - mean he is able to offer a portrait of animal life that's rare in its colour and drama.' - Observer 'That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed.' - Country Life ----- In a stunning package, with specially commissioned illustration and a map, England: A Natural History is the definitive volume on the English landscape and the capstone of John Lewis-Stempel's nature writing. The English countryside is iconic: a series of distinctive habitats that unite to create a landscape that is unique for the rich diversity of our flora and fauna. In England , his most magisterial book to date, John Lewis-Stempel explores each in turn, taking us from coast to moor, from downs to field, from the park to the village to create a vivid living portrait of our natural history. In his trademark lyrical prose, Lewis-Stempel reveals the hidden workings of each habitat: the clear waters and dragonflies; the bluebells, badgers and stag beetles; wild thyme; granite cliffs; rock pools and sandy beaches; red deer standing at ancient oaks; the wayside flowers of the lane; hedgehogs and hares; and snow on the high peak. Each landscape - be it calm green or wild moor, plunging cliff or flatland fen - has shaped our idea of ourselves, our sense of what it is to be in England.