Britain's most-influential nature writer reflects on a lifetime of close observation and celebrates the positive force of the natural world
Richard Mabey is the father of modern nature writing in the UK.
Since 1972 he has written some forty influential books, including
the prize-winning Nature Cure, Gilbert White- a Biography, and
Flora Britannica. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
and Vice-President of the Open Spaces Society.
He spent the first half of his life amongst the Chiltern
beechwoods, and now lives in Norfolk in a house surrounded by ash
trees.
Richard Mabey is among the best writers at work in Britain. I don't
mean among the best nature writers, I mean the best writers, full
stop. I would read anything he wrote, but if such a thing as nature
writing exists and flourishes today it is thanks almost entirely to
him. I have lived by his books for all of my life. Pretty much all
of what nature means to me, I know thanks to his own lifelong
clear-eyed but loving investigation of what it means to him. He has
allowed us all to think about modern nature – our world - but also,
crucially, to feel it too. I cannot imagine a truer green man.
*Tim Dee*
One figure, like no other, looms large in setting the ground for
the contemporary form that has come to be called then New Nature
Writing. Richard Mabey is an author whose work has consistently
pioneered new ways of thinking about landscape, nature, place,
culture and the range of interconnections that all of these share.
Often this has meant reminding us of old ways of thinking about
these things but he has always had a sharp eye for the new meanings
our modern context provokes.
*Jos Smith*
One of our most influential writers on the natural world
*Gardens Illustrated*
A valuable contribution to a great cause
*Spectator*
Poised where nature meets culture, he [Richard Mabey] is
knowledgeable, politically savvy and wry, and an excellent
naturalist
*New Statesman, *Books of the Year**
A vintage collection that shows the evolution of his [Mabey’s]
thinking, perfect for chilling out
*New Scientist*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
