TURNING THE BOAT FOR HOME

BY RICHARD MABEY, CHATTO & WINDUS, £18.99 (HB)

Nature writing is enjoying a sustained boom and even has its own awards (the Wainwright Prize), but many modern nature writers would surely admit a big debt to Richard Mabey.

Richard has been writing and broadcasting about the natural world – and the threats to it – for five decades and this collection of columns, essays and talks demonstrates the breadth of his power, from delightful observations of whirligig beetles (“beads of mercury”, below) to strident demolitions of conservation taboos. In warm and sometimes spiky pieces, Richard balances his own debt to writers such as Gilbert White, Richard Jefferies and Peter Matthiessen with an honesty about their shortcomings and we trust him, because he is equally open about himself and his own work.

Having worked with Richard for five years when he was a columnist on BBC

Wildlife Magazine, I was always struck by the clarity of his writing, no matter the complexity of the topic or the occasional preceding arguments we’d had over the subject matter. While others sometimes lose themselves in overly cunning metaphors, Richard’s words are generously given to the reader in powerful and accessible prose. He gets to the point.

And while the title of the book implies a sense of journey’s end, this collection feels as relevant as ever. Richard Mabey still has much to say about the world of wonder at our fingertips, and why we are fools to trash it so casually.