How to See Nature

"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 who experience nature every day through brownfield edge lands, transport corridors, urban greenspace, industrialised agriculture, and fragments of ancient countryside.

The essays include "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 spiders; "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, featuring 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.