Ancient trees, some over a thousand years old, are dotted around the British Isles, the last survivors of a lost world. Now, new scientific studies of these trees and of fossilised forests and of our oldest wooden artifacts can help us to understand the many woodlands that have disappeared from our landscapes.
‘This is a book about searching in the best sense – full of ideas, beauty, doubt and adventures’ ELIZABETH KOLBERT
‘Fascinating and masterfully written’ ALICE WINN
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Islands of Abandonment, comes a new book about our relationship to the natural world.
‘Prose that is precise and beautiful as northern light … this book is an absolute delight’ MOYA CANNON
Join David Gange on a seabound journey along Atlantic coasts and islands, exploring places and ways of life that have been built on small rowed or paddled boats.
‘A towering achievement’ MERVE EMRE
NYT Best New Books of 2026
A majestic cultural and environmental history that reveals how forests have made – and resisted – Russia’s many empires.
HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.
A beach-goer’s pocket companion for lazy days on the shore, or for the armchair beachcomber recalling the feel of sand between their toes. Noticing and collecting shells is an irresistible and accessible activity for pretty much everyone who goes to the beach, young or old, specialist, or first-timer.
‘A surprising page-turner, full of humour and startling details’ THE TIMES
‘If I read a better history this year, I will be lucky’ TOM HOLLAND
‘An astonishing tour de force’ SPECTATOR
Longlisted for the 2024 Highland Book Prize
An illuminating manifesto on ancient forests: how they adapt to climate change by passing their wisdom through generations, and why our future lies in protecting them.
Ponds and pools are a common feature of our landscape – there are at least ten times as many ponds as lakes in the UK – and they are also important wildlife habitats. This book provides a comprehensive and detailed account of these freshwater habitats.
‘If anyone was born to save Britain’s rainforests, it was Guy Shrubsole’ Sunday Times
This beautifully illustrated overview of the wildlife of the British Isles showcases the diversity of our plant and animal life.
‘Will undoubtedly become a classic narrative of this scenically magnificent, legend-rich and geologically unique part of Scotland’ Cameron McNeish, The Herald
Rising a kilometre out of the storm-scoured waters around Scotland’s Isle of Skye is a dark battlement of pinnacles and ridgelines: the Cuillin.
The Peak District, Britain’s first national park, is a land of great natural beauty, visited by millions of people every year.
Sharks are ruthlessly efficient predators, the apex of 450 million years of evolution. They are older than trees, have survived five extinction events and are essential to maintaining balanced ocean ecosystems, but how much do we really know about their lives?
Spend a year in an orchard, celebrating its imperilled, overlooked abundance of life.
