"Pack soup, cheese and a copy of How To See Nature by the Bard of
Wenlock Edge and Guardian diarist." John Vidal
With a title taken from the 1940 Batsford book, this is nature writing
for the modern reader. Evans weaves historical, cultural and literary
references into his writing, ranging from TS Eliot to Bridget Riley,
from Hieronymus Bosch to Napoleon.
It is a book both for those that live in the country and those that
don't, but experience nature every day through brownfield edge lands,
transport corridors, urban greenspace, industrialised agriculture and
fragments of ancient countryside.
The essays include the The Weedling Wild, on the wildlife of the
wasteland: ragwort, rosebay willowherb, giant hogweed and the cinnabar
moth; Gardens of Light, about the creatures to be found under moonlight:
pipistrelle bats, lacewings and orb-weaver spider; The Flow, with tales
from the riverbank, estuaries and seas, including kingfisher, minnow,
otter and heron. The Commons looks at meadowland with a human footprint,
with the Adonis blue butterfly, horseshoe vetch, skylark, black knapweed
and the six-belted clearwing moth. The author also looks at the wildlife
returned to Britain, such as wild boar and polecats, and finds nature in
and around landscapes as varied as a domestic garden or a wild moor.
The book ends with an alphabetical bestiary, an idiosyncratic selection
of British wildlife based on the author's personal encounters.
