Continuing with the theme of enormous new books this week here in The Well-read Naturalist, the recently published “Aquatic Plants of Northern and Central Europe including Britain and Ireland” from Princeton University Press in their WILDGuides series is a tome that would indeed cause Neville Longbottom himself to sit up and take notice.
While much of the coverage of widespread outbreaks of disease tends to focus on the immediate effects being seen, those who take a more historical view of the world well know that even larger changes – perhaps even paradigm-shifting ones – are often seen in the aftermath of pandemics. Prof. James Belich’s “The World the Plague Made” presents his examination the Black Death of the European Middle Ages and the changes it brought to the world.
The arrival of a copy of Tiffany Francis-Baker’s new book “The Dark Skies of Britain & Ireland” in my post box this past week reminded me that I have been neglectful of publishing any notice of another very useful book she wrote that saw publication this past May: her Bloomsbury Concise Foraging Guide.
Spain’s Extremadura region is famous with wildlife enthusiasts – particularly birders – from all about the world. I’ve not personally made a visit there (yet…) myself, but Mark Avery has, and he is by his own admission, a fan of the area and its many natural wonders.