From poet Kate Fox comes a book for everyone who knew the famous silhouette of the tree that stood at Sycamore Gap.

For those who took shelter, saw its branches against the sky or heard the leaves dance; for all the picnics next to it and the proposals under it. For anyone who feels the strength of silent roots and the quiet promise of the turning year. For any of us who measure time in rings and wait for green leaves to grow again.

For everyone who felt a loss when the gap was just a gap once more, these are words that grew in the space, the hope that shoots like seedlings.

Grown against the wide sky of Northumbria, at a place of borders where ancient history meets our modern lives, the tree that stood for so long still has much to say.

This is a book of growth, loss and renewal, a song from soil to soul, about how we all live where the earth meets the sky.

Since its publication in 1789, Gilbert White’s Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne has inspired generations of artists, writers and naturalists. From Thomas Bewick to Eric Ravilious and Clare Leighton, many artists’ depictions of animals, birds and wildlife have illustrated White’s celebrated book, together providing a microcosm of natural history illustration from the eighteenth century until today. In Drawn to Nature, Simon Martin has gathered joyful and beautiful images of the extraordinary array of wildlife described by White, providing an insight into the continuing appeal and relevance of the Natural History.
 
This fascinating account takes us from some of the earliest published depictions of birds and animals, to pioneering nature photography, the revival of wood-engraving in the 1920s and 30s, and responses to White’s message about the natural world by contemporary illustrators such as Angie Lewin and Emily Sutton. The book also includes an introduction to the life of Gilbert White by Sir David Attenborough, an essay by Virginia Woolf, poems by modern and contemporary poets, and a jacket design by Mark Hearld.