"I adore the fox for its magnificence; I hate the fox for killing my chickens. To love and loathe the fox is a British condition."The fox is our apex predator, our most beautiful and clever killer. We have witnessed its wild touch, watched it slink by bins at night and been chilled by its high-pitched scream.

And yet we long to stroke the tumbling cubs outside their tunnel homes and watch the vixen stalk the cornfield. There is something about foxes. They captivate us like no other species.

Exploring a long and sometimes complicated relationship,...

The perfect gift for nature lovers, in this beautifully illustrated small format hardback, John Lewis-Stempel delves into the cuckoo's unique behaviour and captivating role in our cultural imagination, in folklore, myth, literature and music, turning his exquisite prose to one of the strangest tales of the countryside. ---Is there any bird more mysterious than the cuckoo?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...

' A brilliant gift for anyone who loves the countryside' - Independent ''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'Britain's finest nature writer' - Telegraph'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...