By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature – a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can – tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe.

He also looks with a birdwatcher’s eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own “environmental neurosis” and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work.

While Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there’s still something worth saving.

Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones

‘A jewel of a book’ Caroline Lucas MP

Swifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds. Their migrations span continents and their twelve-week stopover, when they pause to breed in European rooftops, is the very definition of summer. They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads. No birds are more wreathed in mystery. Captivated, Mark Cocker sets out to capture their essence.

Over the course of one day in midsummer he devotes himself to his beloved black birds as they spiral overhead. Yet this is also a book about so much more. Swifts are a prism through which Cocker explores the profound interconnections of the whole biosphere.

From the deep-sea thermal vents where life was born to the 15 million degrees at the core of our Sun, he shows that life is a singular and glorious continuum. These birds without borders are a perfect symbol to express the unity of the living planet. But they also illuminate how no creature, least of all ourselves, can be said to be alive in isolation. We are all inextricably connected.

Drawing deeply on science, history, literature and a lifetime of close observation, One Midsummer’s Day is a dazzling and wide-ranging celebration of all life on Earth by one of our greatest nature writers.

‘A nature classic for the new century’ Jim Perrin, author of Snowdon

‘A fascinating story and a crucial revision of the momentous importance of tropical forests to human history‘ Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins
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Jungle tells the remarkable story of the world’s tropical forests, from the arrival of the first plants millions of years ago to the role of tropical forests in the evolution of the world’s atmosphere, the dinosaurs, the first mammals and even our own species and ancestors.

Highlighting provocative new evidence garnered from cutting-edge research, Dr Roberts shows, for example, that our view of humans as ‘savannah specialists’ is wildly wrong, and that the ‘Anthropocene’ began not with the Industrial Revolution, but potentially as early as 6,000 years ago in the tropics.

We see that the relationship between humankind and ‘jungles’ is deep-rooted, that we are all connected to their destruction, and that we must all act to save them. Urgent, clear-sighted and original, Jungle challenges the way we think about the world – and ourselves.
_________________________

‘Welcome to the “Jungle” – a breathtaking book‘ Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet

‘Timely, readable and highly relevant‘ Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

‘Its revelations and stories will stir, rearrange and populate your mind for years to come‘ Paul Hawken, editor of Drawdown

‘Brilliant … it delivers a timely warning about our abuse of the environment‘ David Abulafia, author of The Great Sea

‘Finally, a book on rainforests that does justice to their majesty and importance‘ Simon Lewis, co-author of The Human Planet

‘This book calls for nothing less than a revolution in the future of food’ Kate Raworth

From the bestselling author of Feral, a breathtaking first glimpse of a new future for food and for humanity

Farming is the world’s greatest cause of environmental destruction – and the one we are least prepared to talk about. We criticise urban sprawl, but farming sprawls across thirty times as much land. We have ploughed, fenced and grazed great tracts of the planet, felling forests, killing wildlife, and poisoning rivers and oceans to feed ourselves. Yet millions still go hungry.

Now the food system itself is beginning to falter. But, as George Monbiot shows us in this brilliant, bracingly original new book, we can resolve the biggest of our dilemmas and feed the world without devouring the planet.

Regenesis is a breathtaking vision of a new future for food and for humanity. Drawing on astonishing advances in soil ecology, Monbiot reveals how our changing understanding of the world beneath our feet could allow us to grow more food with less farming. He meets the people who are unlocking these methods, from the fruit and vegetable grower revolutionising our understanding of fertility; through breeders of perennial grains, liberating the land from ploughs and poisons; to the scientists pioneering new ways to grow protein and fat. Together, they show how the tiniest life forms could help us make peace with the planet, restore its living systems, and replace the age of extinction with an age of regenesis.

‘A fascinating story and a crucial revision of the momentous importance of tropical forests to human history‘ Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins
_________________________

Jungle tells the remarkable story of the world’s tropical forests, from the arrival of the first plants millions of years ago to the role of tropical forests in the evolution of the world’s atmosphere, the dinosaurs, the first mammals and even our own species and ancestors.

Highlighting provocative new evidence garnered from cutting-edge research, Dr Roberts shows, for example, that our view of humans as ‘savannah specialists’ is wildly wrong, and that the ‘Anthropocene’ began not with the Industrial Revolution, but potentially as early as 6,000 years ago in the tropics.

We see that the relationship between humankind and ‘jungles’ is deep-rooted, that we are all connected to their destruction, and that we must all act to save them. Urgent, clear-sighted and original, Jungle challenges the way we think about the world – and ourselves.
_________________________

‘Welcome to the “Jungle” – a breathtaking book‘ Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet

‘Timely, readable and highly relevant‘ Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

‘Its revelations and stories will stir, rearrange and populate your mind for years to come‘ Paul Hawken, editor of Drawdown

‘Brilliant … it delivers a timely warning about our abuse of the environment‘ David Abulafia, author of The Great Sea

‘Finally, a book on rainforests that does justice to their majesty and importance‘ Simon Lewis, co-author of The Human Planet