He does write beautifully, especially of his greatest love - our wild birds ... On The Marsh is a delightful read.' Christopher Hart, Daily MailHow the rewilding of eight acres of Norfolk marshland inspired a family and brought nature even closer to home. When writer Simon Barnes heard a Cetti's warbler sing out as he turned up to look at a house for sale, he knew immediately that he had found his new home.

The fact that his garden backed onto an area of marshy land only increased the possibilities, but there was always the fear that it might end up in the wrong...

From the author of The History of the World in 100 Animals, a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week, comes an inspirational new book that looks at the 100 plants that have had the greatest impact on humanity, stunningly illustrated throughout. As humans, we hold the planet in the palms of ours hands. But we still consume the energy of the sun in the form of food.

The sun is available for consumption because of plants. Plants make food from the sun by the process of photosynthesis; nothing else in the world can do this. We eat plants, or we do so at second hand, by eating the...