One Midsummer's Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth

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A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of The Guardian's Counrtry Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts. An outright classic of his genre... If you thrill to the swifts' arrival (and mourn their annual too-soon departure), this book will enchant as they do... A nature classic for the new century Jim Perrin, author of Snowdon Anna Mathias and Cullen Murphy delve into the life of Anna’s father, Milton Gendel, the celebrated photographer who lived in Rome for 70 years. Just Passing Through, Gendel’s diaries painstakingly edited by Cullen, are a window thrown open on to the who’s who of artists, writers, and socialites who inhabited la dolce vita and include Mark Rothko, Princess Margaret, Alexander Calder, Anaïs Nin, Gore Vidal and Muriel Spark. His longtime home on the Isola Tiberina was a nerve centre of this glamorous and creative generation, whose comings and goings he immortalised in both words and images. A passionately written study of these mysterious creatures of air, fascinating and constantly thought-provoking -- Ann Wroe, author of SIX FACETS OF LIGHT

A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of Across a Waking Land If like me you love swifts, this one is for you, but its scope and appeal takes in a far wider range of summer wildlife, too"A beautiful, brilliant, mind-stretching and soul-flying book. Genius Horatio Clare, author of A Single Swallow

Magnificent ... One Midsummer's Day situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species... a beautifully poised book -- Charles Foster, author of BEING A BEASTThey also ascend to extraordinary heights. Over ordinary ground they have been sighted at 4,400m, and sometimes collide with aircraft; above the Himalayas, “common swifts routinely feed up to 5,730m”. Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary ... A jewel of a book -- Caroline Lucas MP