Spring is the Only Season: How it Works, What it Does and Why it Matters

(Hardback)

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'A book that filled me from first to last with a rapture as transcendent and thrilling as that which spring yearly provides... I absolutely adored it!' STEPHEN FRY
'As dynamic and ebullient as the season it celebrates... There is no one I'd rather spring into spring with than Simon Barnes' KATE HUMBLE
'An endlessly illuminating love letter to the most beguiling of the seasons' LEE SCHOFIELD, author of the award-winning Wild Fell

Spring is the time of renewal and rebirth, a celebration of the resilience of life. As the year turns, animals and plants that have struggled to survive the winter find new hope and create the next generation. The season has inspired some of humanitys greatest art and many of its most significant religious festivals.

Now, in Spring is the Only Season, Simon Barnes provides a fresh and compelling look at this period of the year. He explains the science of the seasons, which are caused by the planets 23.5 degree tilt; he also highlights the music, the paintings and the poetry that have tried to capture it. Packed with fascinating insights, remarkable facts and key stories, the book is a vivid and multi-faceted portrait of spring.

However, while the Earth will continue to spin on its tilting axis, he reveals how our impact on the planet is beginning to destroy the natural course of the seasons, and that elements of the beloved spring from migrating birds to emerging butterflies are endangered by climate change. But its not too late. Not yet. We can still make a difference and so continue to enjoy the pleasures of spring.

Reviews

Simon Barnes has written a book that filled me from first to last with a rapture as transcendent and thrilling as that which spring yearly provides. He describes the seasons prodigious generosity, power and reach with marvellous clarity and passion. Like all great writing on nature all great writing on any subject in fact Barnes makes you look and listen with new eyes and ears. Never have I read a book that so impelled me to get out and pay attention to great creating nature in all its force and splendour... I cannot think of anyone who wont be entranced and grateful that this book exists. Reading it is like being taken for a glorious nature walk by a hugely knowledgeable and enthusiastic friend. Truly, I absolutely adored it! -- Stephen Fry
With his trademark blend of wit, fascination and knowledge, Simon Barnes has written an endlessly illuminating love letter to the most beguiling of the seasons. A book to make sun-worshipping pagans of us all -- Lee Schofield, author of WILD FELL
An enjoyable and compelling read. Spring is undoubtedly the most important season. Barnes takes us through the many aspects of spring, from religion, poetry, agriculture and of course the song. He broadens our understanding of these magical moments, culminating in their importance. A fascinating and insightful book that shows why we need to maintain life's natural cycles. -- Jake Fiennes, author of LAND HEALER
Barnes weaves together a tapestry of delights in this biography of the season of spring, and what it means to the planet and to human society - from migration to sports to poetry to climate change. Full of fascinating insights, Spring is the Only Season is a book you'll relish being carried along by, whatever the time of year -- Chantal Lyons, author of GROUNDBREAKERS
As dynamic and ebullient as the season it celebrates... There is no one I'd rather spring into spring with than Simon Barnes -- Kate Humble

Author Bio

Simon Barnes is a writer and journalist who was the chief sportswriter and wildlife columnist for The Times until 2014, having worked for the paper for 30 years. He is the author of many wild volumes, including the bestselling Bad Birdwatcher trilogy, Rewild Yourself and, most recently, How to be a Bad Botanist. He is a trustee of Conservation South Luangwa and patron of Save the Rhino. In 2014, he was awarded the Rothschild Medal for services to conservation. He lives in Norfolk with his family, where he manages several acres for wildlife.