In this enchanting follow-up to Nightwalking, John Lewis-Stempel once again ventures out into the night to uncover the unseen world of nocturnal creatures. When the curtain of night falls, a spectacle begins. That of bio-luminescence, of boxing hares, and wheat fields shimmering in the moonlight.

In Night Life, Lewis-Stempel wanders further afield, to terrains new, and shows us why the night is precious, and what it is to be human in the dark.

”This extraordinarily fine writer tours England with an eye for every living thing. A work of beauty, deeply informed, a fantastic gift.’ – Saga

‘A masterpiece’ – Daily Mail

‘Full of evocative detail, this celebration of nature and place is bursting with historical details and lyrical observations of wildlife and landscape.’ – Countryfile magazine

‘What we have here is the best of John Lewis-Stempel and the best of his vision of England.’ – The Tablet

‘That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed.’ – Country Life

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Now in paperback, with map and illustrations, 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.

In a stunning package, complete with decorated boards, endpapers, chapterheads 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.

It is invariably heard, and not seen. And if seen, it is mistaken for a sharp-winged hawk. The female cuckoo – by a trick that borders on alchemy – is able to disguise its egg as another’s. In Greek myth the god Zeus assumed the form of a cuckoo to seduce Hera.

But we forgive the cuckoo its con-artistry, because it is the true herald of spring. It is the bird that uplifts our wintered hearts, with that first two-note ‘cuk-koo’ unmistakable as it sounds across the country.

In The Curious Life of the Cuckoo, John Lewis-Stempel explains one of nature’s greatest enigmas in vivid, lyrical prose, and celebrates this iconic bird.
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‘That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed.’ – Country Life

‘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

‘His prose is immaculate’ – Der Spiegel

‘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: Summer Reads

‘Assured and expert countryside writing’ –TLS

‘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

‘Gilbert White for the 21st Century.’ The Bookseller

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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 Natural History is the definitive volume on the English landscape and the capstone of John Lewis-Stempel’s nature writing.

‘An utterly beguiling immersion in La France Profonde, keenly observed and beautifully told’ Felicity Cloake, author of One More Croissant for the Road

For fans of Peter Mayle, ‘Britain’s finest living nature writer’ takes the plunge and buys an old farmhouse deep in the French countryside – a perfect slice of sunny escapist joy from the perennial Sunday Times bestseller.

The Charente: roofs of red terracotta tiles, bleached-white walls, windows shuttered against the blaring sun. The baker does his rounds in his battered little white van with a hundred warm baguettes in the back, while a cat picks its way past a Romanesque church, the sound of bells skipping across miles of rolling, glorious countryside.

For many years a farmer in England, John Lewis-Stempel yearned once again to live in a landscape where turtle doves purr and nightingales sing, as they did almost everywhere in his childhood. He wanted to be self-sufficient, to make his own wine and learn the secrets of truffle farming. And so, buying an old honey-coloured limestone house with bright blue shutters, the Lewis-Stempels began their new life as peasant farmers.

Over that first year, Lewis-Stempel fell in love with the French countryside, from the wild boar that trot past the kitchen window to the glow-worms and citronella candles that flicker in the evening garden. Although it began as a practical enterprise, it quickly became an affair of the heart: of learning to bite the end off the morning baguette; taking two hours for lunch; in short, living the good life – or as the French say, La Vie.

Whether you just want to make an existing family space more wildlife friendly or go the whole hedgehog and turn your back garden into a mini nature reserve, The Wildlife Garden will show you how to do it. You will discover:
– What plants are best for wildlife
– How to make refuges for insects and homes for bats
– How to create a pool for frogs

The Wildlife Garden is the essential guide to attracting birds to your bushes, butterflies to your buddleia and a whole array of other creatures into your garden – even if you only have a window box – all whilst adding scent and colour to your surroundings.

‘Lewis-Stempel is one of our finest nature writers … He writes with delicate observation and authority, giving us in Woodston a book teeming with fascinating details, anecdotes and penetrating insights into the real cost of our denatured countryside.’ – Sunday Times

‘The English countryside is ‘a work of human art, done by the many and the nameless’ and John Lewis-Stempel wanted to celebrate it. He has succeeded admirably.’ – Daily Mail
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In the beginning was the earth…

From the Paleozoic volcanoes that stained its soil, to the Saxons who occupied it, to the Tudors who traded its wool, to the Land Girls of wartime, John Lewis-Stempel charts a sweeping, lyrical history of Woodston: the quintessential English farm.

With his combined skills of farmer and historian, Lewis-Stempel digs deep into written records, the memories of relatives, and the landscape itself to celebrate the farmland his family have been bound to for millennia. Through Woodston’s life, we feel the joyful arrival of oxen ploughing; we see pigs rootling in the medieval apple orchard; and take in the sharp, drowsy fragrance of hops on Edwardian air. He draws upon his wealth of historical knowledge and his innate sense of place to create a passionate, fascinating biography of farming in England.

Woodston not only reminds us of the rural riches buried beneath our feet but of our shared roots that tie us to the land.

‘An utterly beguiling immersion in La France Profonde, keenly observed and beautifully told’ Felicity Cloake, author of One More Croissant for the Road

For fans of Peter Mayle, ‘Britain’s finest living nature writer’ takes the plunge and buys an old farmhouse deep in the French countryside – a perfect slice of sunny escapist joy from the perennial Sunday Times bestseller.

The Charente: roofs of red terracotta tiles, bleached-white walls, windows shuttered against the blaring sun. The baker does his rounds in his battered little white van with a hundred warm baguettes in the back, while a cat picks its way past a Romanesque church, the sound of bells skipping across miles of rolling, glorious countryside.

For many years a farmer in England, John Lewis-Stempel yearned once again to live in a landscape where turtle doves purr and nightingales sing, as they did almost everywhere in his childhood. He wanted to be self-sufficient, to make his own wine and learn the secrets of truffle farming. And so, buying an old honey-coloured limestone house with bright blue shutters, the Lewis-Stempels began their new life as peasant farmers.

Over that first year, Lewis-Stempel fell in love with the French countryside, from the wild boar that trot past the kitchen window to the glow-worms and citronella candles that flicker in the evening garden. Although it began as a practical enterprise, it quickly became an affair of the heart: of learning to bite the end off the morning baguette; taking two hours for lunch; in short, living the good life – or as the French say, La Vie.

Everybody thinks they know what sheep are like: they’re stupid, noisy, cowardly (‘lambs to the slaughter’), and they’re ‘sheepwrecking’ the environment.

Or maybe not. Contrary to popular prejudice, sheep are among the smartest animals in the farmyard, fiercely loyal, forming long and lasting friendships. Sheep, farmed properly, are boons to biodiversity. They also happen to taste good and their fleeces warm us through the winter – indeed, John Lewis-Stempel’s family supplied the wool for Queen Elizabeth’s ‘hose’.

Observing the traditional shepherd’s calendar, The Sheep’s Tale is a loving biography of ewes, lambs, and rams through the seasons. Lewis-Stempel tends to his flock with deep-rooted wisdom, ethical consideration, affection, and humour. This book is a tribute to all the sheep he has reared and sheared – from gregarious Action Ram to sweet Maid Marion. In his inimitable style, he shares the tales that only a shepherd can tell.