John Lewis-Stempel

A warm and personal biography of the sheep by one of our most celebrated nature writers - author of multiple Sunday Times bestsellers and twice winner of the Wainwright Prize for nature writing. Everybody thinks they know what sheep are like - they're stupid, noisy, cowardly ('lambs to the slaughter'), and they're 'sheepwrecking' the environment. Or maybe not. Contrary to...

For fans of Peter Mayle, La Vie by 'Britain's finest living nature writer' takes the plunge and buys an old farmhouse deep in the French countryside - a perfect slice of sunny escapist joy from the perennial Sunday Times bestseller. The Charente - roofs of red terracotta tiles, bleached-white walls, windows shuttered against the blaring sun. The baker does his...

Our greatest nature writer explores the myths, legends, history, and hidden world of one of our most secretive and masterfully duplicitous animals. 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...