I wanted to know more about these birds. I
love the sound of swifts as they circle high in the sky in summer. The book
inspired me to put up two swift nest boxes and to try to persuade all builders
to include a swift brick in every new house.
I
loved this book because it took me into the strange world of the swift. My three passions are cats, animal welfare, and nature. Swifts are amazing and incredible birds, and we need to know more
about them so we can help them survive in the modern world.
Swifts live almost entirely in the air. They eat, drink, sleep, mate and gather their nesting materials on the wing, fly thousands of miles across the world, navigating their way around storms, never lighting on tree, cliff or ground, until they return home with the summer.
Sarah Gibson has written a fascinating story of discovery, exploring what is known about these mysterious birds, their ancient ancestry and how they have been regarded through history. But the swifts are in real danger: often unintentionally, we are sealing our homes against wildlife of any kind. Cracks, gaps and crevices which for thousands…
I
read Ben Macintyre’s book about the SAS which was terrific. I knew several
former SAS blokes. During my life, I have met two people who were imprisoned in
Colditz. One of them spent a lot of time knitting sweaters for escapers,
because his nanny had taught him how to knit!
He
is an excellent writer, and I was interested in his take on Colditz.
'A master at setting the pulse racing' Daily Mail 'A fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject' Telegraph _____________________________
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SAS: ROGUE HEROES
Colditz Castle: a forbidding Gothic tower on a hill in Nazi Germany. You may have heard about the prisoners and their daring and desperate attempts to escape, but that's only part of the real story.
In Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes us inside the walls of the most infamous prison in history to meet…
I reviewed this for The Salisbury Review and wasn’t expecting to like it. But I did.
I had no idea that the Roman Empire had suffered various plagues and that these, rather than Christianity, may have led to its downfall. And maybe the Neanderthals died out because we modern humans gave them deadly diseases.
You wouldn’t think a book about plagues and epidemics could be fun, but it was!
'Powerfully argued... Fascinating and pacy' Sunday Times, Book of the Week 'Superbly written... sure to please readers of Yuval Noah Harari or Rutger Bregman' The Times 'Full of amazing facts' Observer 'The book shines when it brings cutting-edge science to bear' Financial Times 'A dizzying range of material' The Economist 'A humbling story for humankind' Spectator
Challenges some of the greatest cliches about colonialism... A revelation' SATHNAM SANGHERA 'Thrilling and eye-opening' LEWIS DARTNELL 'Science and history at its best' MARK HONIGSBAUM 'Unpicks everything we thought we knew... Mind blowing' CAL FLYN
