England

'John Lewis-Stempel is the hottest nature writer around.' - Spectator

'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

'I love the earthiness of John Lewis-Stempel's writing ... The author has seen it, done it, sweated it, and has earned the right to write about it with straw-cut fingers and itchy palms. Brilliant stuff.' - Christopher Somerville, walking correspondent for The Times

'It's his observation of the natural world - the sight, the sound, the smell of it - that is so memorable. He has a distinctively brisk, muscular style of writing that has a poetic intensity and concision. - Guardian

'Lewis-Stempel sees and hears things others will never see and hear, and he can write about them as no one else can.'- Daily Mail

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Our 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.

In a stunning package, complete with decorated boards, endpapers, chapterheads and a map, England: A