{"title":"Books by Patrick Barkham","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781783352494","title":"Wild Green Wonders","description":"\u003cp\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe collected writings from one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003eBarkham is an outstanding author.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCHRIS PACKHAM\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Wonder-filled . . . A treat.  Patrick knows how to tell a good story, and that combination of kindness, wonder and good fortune that seems to be present in his own life shines through.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCAUGHT BY THE RIVER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat is happening to nature?\u003cbr\u003eWhat are we as a species doing about it?\u003cbr\u003eWhat have we learned?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWild Green Wonders \u003c\/i\u003epaints a portrait of contemporary wildlife, bearing witness to the many changes imposed upon the planet and the challenges lying ahead for the future of nature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom peregrine falcons nesting by the Thames to a conversation with Sir David Attenborough; from protests against the HS2 railway to an encounter with Britain's last lion tamer, this collection – drawn from twenty years' worth of Patrick Barkham's writing for the \u003ci\u003eGuardian \u003c\/i\u003e– forms a joyful, fascinating and enlightening chronicle of one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Outstanding nature journalism.' \u003cb\u003eHORATIO CLARE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A heralded nature writer.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'A lovely, fluid writer.' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDAILY MAIL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128563499186,"sku":"9781783352494","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781783352494.jpg?v=1786025618"},{"product_id":"9780008359317","title":"Wild Isles","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis beautifully illustrated overview of the wildlife of the British Isles showcases the diversity of our plant and animal life. Wild Isles is a celebration of the wildlife found on a relatively modest collection of islands positioned at a latitude so northerly to be unattractive to many animals and plants. Despite these unpromising foundations, the islands of Britain and Ireland, together with more than 6,000 lesser islets that make up our archipelago, contain some of the most diverse, beautiful and wildlife-rich landscapes and seas on our planet. This book will explore the fascinating relationships within and between species who make their home on our beautiful isles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach chapter focuses on a particular kind of wild space.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBritain and Ireland are dominated by a wide variety of grasslands from lowland water meadows to upland moors, and we will see how these human-shaped, semi-natural landscapes thrum with insect, bird and mammal life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLife requires water to flourish, and streams and rivers carry freshwater through our landscape, creating unique ecosystems and interrelations within and beside these waters, which are revealed in a third section.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile Britain and Ireland’s woodlands are comparatively thin on the ground compared with most of continental Europe, we will see some of the forests and trees that remain are unusually ancient and, great repositories of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, of course, we are surrounded by sea, and our position on the continental shelf before it plunges into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean gives rise to an often overlooked plenty of marine life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA glorious richness divided into five breathtaking sections.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":43128992039090,"sku":"9780008359317","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682753519989,"sku":"9780008359355","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008359317.jpg?v=1792511684"},{"product_id":"9781783781935","title":"Wild Child","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Entrancing... If ever there was a book to fuel the ecological interest of future generations, this is it. An inspiration for parents, grandparents and teachers, it is equally about showing adults how to recover their own joie de vivre' Isabella Tree, author of \u003ci\u003eWilding \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom climbing trees and making dens, to building sandcastles and pond-dipping, many of the activities we associate with a happy childhood take place outdoors. And yet, the reality for many contemporary children is very different. The studies tell us that we are raising a generation who are so alienated from nature that they can't identify the commonest birds or plants, they don't know where their food comes from, they are shuttled between home, school and the shops and spend very little time in green spaces - let alone roaming free. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this timely and personal book, celebrated nature writer Patrick Barkham draws on his own experience as a parent and a forest school volunteer to explore the relationship between children and nature.  Unfolding over the course of a year of snowsuits, muddy wellies, and sunhats, \u003ci\u003eWild Child\u003c\/i\u003e is both an intimate story of children finding their place in natural world, and a celebration of the delight we can all find in even modest patches of green.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205003215026,"sku":"9781783781935","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781783781935_cc9f0184-ff68-4610-8cd5-c5118bb7b386.jpg?v=1786026167"},{"product_id":"9781847088994","title":"Coastlines","description":"Told through a series of walks beside the sea, this is a story of the most beautiful 742 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: their rocks, plants and animals, their views, walks and history, and the people who have made their lives within sight of the waves. As he travels along coastal paths, visits beaches and explores coves, Barkham reflects on the long campaign to protect our shoreline from tidal erosion and human damage and weaves together fascinating tales about every aspect of the coast - from ancient conquests and smuggler's routes, to exotic migratory birds and bucket-and-spade holidays - to tell a more profound story about our island nation and the way we are shaped by our shores.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205786861746,"sku":"9781847088994","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781847088994_6ccd8159-1726-40e1-8a80-496354643e9c.jpg?v=1786029750"},{"product_id":"9781783781904","title":"Islander","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the National Geographic Reader's Award 2018\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year 2018\u003cbr\u003eShortlisted for the BBC Countryfile Magazine Country Book of the Year 2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'For all the islomaniacs out there, Patrick Barkham's Islander looks unmissable' \u003cb\u003eRobert Macfarlane\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Brimming with nature, this is a fitting tribute to the strangeness and beauty of our British isles'\u003cb\u003e Financial Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Islander is a charming and attractive book... his shrewd study of the islander mentality [...] could stand for the entire country' \u003cb\u003eSpectator\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe British Isles are an archipelago made up of two large islands and 6,289 smaller ones. Some, like the Isle of Man, resemble miniature nations, with their own language and tax laws; others, like Ray Island in Essex, are abandoned and mysterious places haunted by myths, ghosts and foxes. There are resurgent islands such as Eigg, which have been liberated from capricious owners to be run by their residents; holy islands like Bardsey, the resting place of 20,000 saints, and still a site of spiritual questing; and deserted islands such as St Kilda, famed for the evacuation of its human population, and now dominated by wild sheep and seabirds. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this evocative and vividly observed book, Patrick Barkham explores some of the most beautiful landscapes in the British Isles as he travels to ever-smaller islands in search of their special magic. Our small islands are both places of freedom and imprisonment, party destinations and oases of peace, strangely suburban and deeply wild. They are places where the past is unusually present, but they can also offer a vision of an alternative future. Meeting all kinds of islanders, from nuns to puffins, from local legends to rare subspecies of vole, he seeks to discover what it is like to live on a small island, and what it means to be an islander.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43403922636978,"sku":"9781783781904","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781783781904.jpg?v=1786026166"},{"product_id":"9780241471487","title":"The Swimmer","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBEST BOOK OF 2023 ACCORDING TO THE NEWSTATESMAN AND OBSERVER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003ci\u003eThe Swimmer\u003c\/i\u003e is a wonderful, original achievement; teeming with stories, glittering with images, and experimental in form and tone' Robert Macfarlane\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRoger Deakin, author of the immortal \u003ci\u003eWaterlog\u003c\/i\u003e, was a man of many parts: maverick ad-man, cider-maker, teacher, environmentalist, music promoter and filmmaker. But, above all, he was the restorer of ancient Walnut Tree Farm in Suffolk, the heartland where he wrote about all natural life – with rare attention, intimacy, precision and poetry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRoger Deakin was unique, and so too is this joyful work of creative biography, told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues and lovers. Delving deep into Deakin’s library of words, Patrick Barkham draws from notebooks, diaries, letters and recordings to conjure his voice back to glorious life in these pages.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A rich, strange and compelling work of creative memoir that beautifully honours and elevates the life and work of its subject' Alex Preston, \u003ci\u003eObserver \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43605811527858,"sku":"9780241471487","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241471487_2572ce5b-e762-48ce-883b-a04dd731f442.jpg?v=1786012481"},{"product_id":"9781847085054","title":"Badgerlands","description":"\u003cp\u003eBritain is the home of the badger - there are more badgers per square kilometre in this country than in any other. And yet many of us have never seen one alive and in the wild. They are nocturnal creatures who vanish into their labyrinthine underground setts at the first hint of a human. Here, Patrick Barkham follows in the footsteps of his badger-loving grandmother, to meet the feeders, farmers and scientists who know their way around Badgerlands: the mysterious world in which these distinctively striped creatures snuffle, dig and live out their complex social lives. As the debate over the badger cull continues, Barkham weighs the evidence on both sides of the argument, and delves into the rich history of the badger - from their prehistoric arrival in Britain and their savage persecution over the centuries, to Kenneth Grahame's fictional creation in \u003ci\u003eWind in the Willows\u003c\/i\u003e and the badger who became a White House pet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the celebrated author of \u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Isles\u003c\/i\u003e, this is rich, vivid nature writing at its best.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308488274293,"sku":"9781847085054","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781847085054_45cccdec-81ee-4c2b-bb02-d5365431f199.jpg?v=1786029709"},{"product_id":"9781908213099","title":"Pattern Under the Plough","description":"In 1948, shortly after settling with his family in the village of Blaxhall, Suffolk, George Ewart Evans started recording the conversations he had with neighbours, many of whom were born in the nineteenth century and had worked on farms before the arrival of mechanisation. He soon realised that below the surface of their stories were the remnants of an ancient, rural culture previously ignored by historians. In the detail of village architecture, the of superstitions of tree-planting and rituals house-building, in the esoteric practices of horse cults or the pagan habit of 'telling the bees', The Pattern Under the Plough unearths the rich seam of customs and beliefs that this old culture has brought to our communities. Even in modern societies, governed by science and technology, there are still traces of a civilisation whose beliefs were bound to the soil and whose reliance on the seasons was a matter of life or death.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308945551733,"sku":"9781908213099","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781908213099_afec86a0-13c7-4b8a-8588-294f082ec239.jpg?v=1792424618"},{"product_id":"taking-care","title":"Taking Care","description":"Taking Care is a wise, poignant, funny and hopeful book about finding joy in the most unlikely circumstances. The story starts with Patrick's dad's dementia diagnosis, his decision to move to a care home, and what happens next as the years in care unexpectedly turn out to be blessed with moments of joy as well as great poignancy. As Patrick's dad finds succour in nature and becomes remarkably accepting of infirmity and death, the story evolves into a celebration of carers and their community. Patrick weaves their fascinating stories with those of his father's surprising past and present.   In his most personal book yet, Patrick, a Sunday Times-bestselling nature writer, hopes to tackle some of the biggest philosophical questions that stare each of us in the face, questions we often run away from until we can run no more: what it is to be alive, how to live a good life in the most unpromising circumstances and what accepting death may look like.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504840647029,"sku":"9781472161710","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-patrick-barkham.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}