Conservation History

In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization and offers listeners a magisterial overview of humanity's energy eras.

Bloomsbury presents The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, read by Anne Twomey ________________ WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NON-FICTION ________________ 'An invaluable contribution to our understanding of present circumstances, just as the paradigm shift she calls for is...

A new edition of David Attenborough’s groundbreaking Life on Earth. Winner of Best Non-Fiction Audiobook at the New York Radio Awards 2019. Shortlisted for Best Audiobook at the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018. Shortlisted for Futurebook of the Year at the Futurebook Awards 2018. The...

WINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY PRIZE 2016 'Dazzling' Literary Review 'Brilliant' Sunday Express 'Extraordinary and gripping' New Scientist 'A superb biography' The Economist 'An exhilarating armchair voyage' GILES MILTON, Mail on Sunday Alexander von...

Brought to you by Penguin. From the celebrated author of The Ends of the World, an epic biography of the molecule that made – and could now break – everything we know All life is made from CO2 . It was there at earth’s birth, and throughout evolution. It has kept our planet habitable for...

From the host of the Travel Channel’s “The Wild Within.” A hunt for the American buffalo—an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination. In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery permit to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the...

Jailed as a scapegoat for Stalin's famines, Vavilov had traveled over five continents, collected hundreds of thousands of seeds in an effort to outline the ancient centers of agricultural diversity. Gary Paul Nabhan weaves together Vavilov's story with his own expeditions to Earth's richest agricultural landscapes and the cultures that tend them.

Native and imported, sacred and ordinary, culinary and floral, favourites of various kings and commoners over the centuries, trees are the most visible signs of nature in cities, fundamentally shaping their identities. Trees are storehouses of the complex origins and histories of city growth...

Brought to you by Penguin. Our countryside is iconic: a series of distinctive habitats that unite to create a landscape that is unique for the rich diversity of our flora and fauna. In England, his most magisterial book to date, John Lewis-Stempel explores each in turn, taking us from coast to...

‘A feast for mind and soul, a treasure trove of insights into the enigmatic and enchanting world of the birds we share our lives with but barely notice. I have learnt so much. Every page is a thrill. Bird School has opened my eyes' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding Step into the hide for a...

'I loved this book. What a joy to read a craftsman so clearly in love with his craft' SIMON JENKINS 'A wonderful read' DOUGALD O'REILLY 'Literary prize juries need look no further for a worthy winner' MAX HASTINGS 'In a world of AI, steel and concrete, books like this have never felt more...

Caradonna's unique and concise history broadens our understanding of what "sustainability" means, revealing how it progressed from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international policy. For anyone seeking understand the history of those striving to make the world a better place to live, here's a place to start.

A riveting, urgent account of the explorers and scientists racing to understand the rapidly melting ice sheet in Greenland, a dramatic harbinger of climate change “Jon Gertner takes readers to spots few journalists or even explorers have visited. The result is a gripping and important book...

In this "immersive, densely reported, and altogether remarkable first book [with] the texture and color of a first-rate novel" (New York Times), journalist Doug Bock Clark tells the epic story of the world's last subsistence whalers and the threats posed to a tribe on the brink. A New York Times...

“A house of wonders itself. . . . Wonderland inspires grins and well-what-d'ya-knows” —The New York Times Book Review From the New York Times–bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Extra Life, a look at the world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained. This...

From the author of the enduring classic The Solace of Open Spaces, here is a wondrous meditation on how water, light, wind, mountain, bird, and horse have shaped her life and her understanding of a world besieged by a climate crisis. Amid species extinctions and disintegrating ice sheets, this...

The story of how one woman's long love affair with New York's Central Park led her to organize its rescue from a state of serious decline, returning it to the beautiful place of recreational opportunity and spiritual sustenance that it is today. Elizabeth Barlow Rogers opens with a quick survey...

Brought to you by Penguin. Since the dawn of human history, birds have stirred our imagination, inspiring and challenging our ideas about science, faith, art and philosophy. Looking to the skies above, we have variously worshipped them as gods, hunted them for sustenance, adorned ourselves in...

A SPOTIFY BEST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026 Bloomsbury presents Beauty of the Beasts by Jo Wimpenny, read by Bettrys Jones In an age of catastrophic biodiversity loss, the author of Aesop’s Animals explains why we should champion and protect nature’s underdogs. Wasps. Snakes...

Uncover the fierce environmental history and political battles behind the radical idea of preserving wild public lands. Perfect for an inspiring commute or a reflective road trip, this narrative reveals how society fought to share its most precious natural settings. From majestic wilderness to...