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Seasons of Storm and Wonder

Seasons of Storm and Wonder

by Jim Crumley

Foreword by Kathleen Jamie

Published by: Saraband

Imprint: Saraband

448 Pages, 5.43 x 8.50 in

Hardcover
9781913393533
Published: October 2023

$34.95

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

From Jim Crumley, the “pre-eminent Scottish nature-writer” (Guardian), this landmark volume documents the extraordinary natural life of the Scottish Highlands and bears witness to the toll climate chaos is taking on its wildlife, habitats, and biodiversity—laying bare what is at stake for future generations.

In this landmark volume, Jim Crumley brings together a sweeping five-year quest to document the seasons and how he has seen them change. It explores the damage to the Earth’s natural rhythms, but also relishes the enduring beauty and wonder of nature itself.

Drawing on his studies of each season over more than thirty years and reworking the volumes in his best-selling Seasons quartet, Crumley has created this unique account of our natural world today.

After a lifetime of immersing himself in the landscapes of Scotland and a handful of other northern countries, Crumley has amassed a body of knowledge and insight and a bank of memorable imagery.

Combining lyrical prose and passionate eloquence, he lays bare the impact of an increasingly chaotic climate and urges us all towards a more daring conservation vision that embraces everything from the mountain treeline to a second spring for the wolf.

Foreword by Kathleen Jamie

Introduction: A Moment of Beauty

Part One: AUTUMN

A Child of Autumn

Autumn Leaves

The Far East

The Unexpected Eagle

Twenty-four Hours on Harris

Daylight on the Dream

An Audience with the Great Shepherd

A Storm Called Abigail

The Carse

Autumn into Winter

Edinburgh: Summertime in November

Part Two: WINTER

The White Bird Passes Through

White Walls Weeping

Sweet Medwin Water

The Narwhal in the Sky

Solstice

Wolf Moon

Hark the Herald Eagle

A Winter Diary

Insh Marshes: A Waterworld with No Half Measures

I Went Out to the Hazel Wood

Part Three: SPRING

First Syllables

Falcons of the Yellow Hill

The Backward Spring

The Mountaineering Badger

An Island Pilgrimage (1) – Mull and Iona

An Island Pilgrimage (2) – Lismore, the Great Garden

An Island Pilgrimage (3) - Lindisfarne, Islandshire

May in June

The Poetry of Mountain Flowers

The Sanctuary

Renaissance

Swan Song for a Backward Spring

Part Four: SUMMER

The Goddess of Small Things

St Kilda Summer, 1988

You Have Not Seen Her With My Eyes

She Is of the Woods and I Am Not

Solstice

Bass Notes

The Land of Havørn (1) – Under the Blue Mountain

The Land of Havørn (2) – Islands of Dreams

The Climate Imperative

The Accidental Kingfisher and Other Stories

Afterword Never Forget

Acknowledgements

Jim Crumley has written more than forty books, mostly on the wildlife and wild landscape of his native Scotland, the impact of human activity on the natural world, species reintroduction, and climate change. His work has been recognised in nominations for prestigious awards including the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing and Scotland’s National Book Awards. Crumley is also a poet and a widely published journalist.

Praise for Jim Crumley
“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
“Scotland’s foremost living nature writer.” The Courier, Scotland
“The pre-eminent Scottish nature writer.” Guardian
“Jim Crumley … has been our predominant writer on the natural world … [He] is a naturalist with a great gift for observation … His work engages us in the best ways … We are drawn alongside him, to appreciate what he appreciates.” Kathleen Jamie, Scotland’s national poet
“In what may come to be judged as his masterwork, veteran nature writer Jim Crumley opens our eyes to unknown beauties and to mysteries we may not even have considered.” Allan Massie, The Scotsman
"This is a book from an author that can inspire those with a good knowledge of wildlife but also, I feel, draw in others to that subject through the beauty of the writing and the incisiveness of the observation. A great book, and obviously a book for all seasons." Mark Avery

Seasons of Storm and Wonder

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