The Nature of Spring (Paperback)
by Jim Crumley
Read an extract
A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, from the author of the Wainwright Prize-longlisted The Nature of Autumn Spring is nature’s season of rebirth and rejuvenation. Earth’s northern hemisphere tilts towards the sun, winter yields to intensifying light and warmth, and a wild, elemental beauty transforms the Highland landscape and a repertoire of islands from Colonsay to Lindisfarne. Jim Crumley chronicles the wonder, tumult and spectacle of that transformation, but he shows too that it is no Wordsworthian idyll that unfolds. Climate chaos brings unwanted drama to the lives of badger and fox, seal and seabird and raptor, pine marten and sand martin. Jim lays bare the impact of global warming and urges us all towards a more daring conservation vision that embraces everything from the mountain treeline to a second spring for the wolf.
REVIEWS OF The Nature of Spring (Paperback)
“This thought-inducing paean to nature brings the issues of the natural world to the forefront … Crumley writes movingly about the season of rebirth and transformation which sees the hibernators awaken and the daffodils rise. A wonderful read.” Kirstin Tait, Scottish Field
“Beautifully written … thoughtful and thought-provoking … Jim Crumley does not shy away from the important issues facing the natural world [in] a book you’d like to think could have real influence on the world we live in.” Undiscovered Scotland
“Mesmerising.” Susan Swarbrick, Herald
"Delightful … The lyrical prose elevates Crumley’s detailed descriptions of the natural world he encounters … Readers will be transported by this immersive outing." Publishers Weekly
“Enthralling and often strident.” Observer
"He could be Ali Smith’s naturalist twin.” Rosemary Goring, Scottish Review of Book
“A fantastic writer … exquisite observations of details in the landscape as well as sweeping vistas … remarkable.” Ben Hoare, BBC Countryfile
“Nature writer and poet Jim Crumley returns with a third volume of close observations [and] charts the arrival of spring, from the February song of a mistle thrush to May’s drowsy warmth. Crumley quotes Margiad Evans – ‘Write in the very now where you find yourself’ – and takes her advice to heart.” New Statesman