One Midsummer's Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth

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If like me you love swifts, this one is for you, but its scope and appeal takes in a far wider range of summer wildlife, too" Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary [...] A jewel of a book" A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of Across a Waking Land

Sir Mark Prescott is literally a racing legend without peer. At the Festival, he will chat with John Lloyd about his love of animal sports, his biggest triumphs and disappointments, the secrets of his enduring success, his books and much much more. (To those of you know little or nothing about horse racing: If there’s one thing that Sir Mark does as well as training horses, it’s story-telling.) In this closing session of EA Festival 2023, festival founder Joanne Ooi posed 5 questions to legendary TV producer John Lloyd, leading to some ridiculous anecdotes and absurd pranks. It's not often I am moved to tears. I wish you could reprint the last chapter of One Midsummer's Day as a free-standing essay and give it out to every schoolchild in the country Kathleen Jamie, author of The Tree House Situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species... A beautifully poised book Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling"

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A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations -- Tristan Gooley, author of HOW TO READ A TREE The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of The Guardian's Counrtry Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts. Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops An outright classic of his genre... If you thrill to the swifts' arrival (and mourn their annual too-soon departure), this book will enchant as they do... A nature classic for the new century Jim Perrin, author of Snowdon Swifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds. Their migrations span continents and their twelve-week stopover, when they pause to breed in European rooftops, is the very definition of summer. They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads. No birds are more wreathed in mystery.

Brilliant, zany and unique are just a few of the adjectives that describe the genius of Milton Jones’ stand-up comedy — verbal absurdity delivered with unerring, deadpan timing. You will roll with laughter and never forget his outlandishly clever, cleverly outlandish show. Anna Mathias and Cullen Murphy delve into the life of Anna’s father, Milton Gendel, the celebrated photographer who lived in Rome for 70 years. Just Passing Through, Gendel’s diaries painstakingly edited by Cullen, are a window thrown open on to the who’s who of artists, writers, and socialites who inhabited la dolce vita and include Mark Rothko, Princess Margaret, Alexander Calder, Anaïs Nin, Gore Vidal and Muriel Spark. His longtime home on the Isola Tiberina was a nerve centre of this glamorous and creative generation, whose comings and goings he immortalised in both words and images.Magnificent ... One Midsummer's Day situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species... a beautifully poised book -- Charles Foster, author of BEING A BEAST If like me you love swifts, this one is for you, but its scope and appeal takes in a far wider range of summer wildlife, too * Bird Watching, *Book of the Month* * The winner of the 2022 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, Shunta Morimoto, will dazzle us with a solo recital of Mozart, Brahms and Rameau. His grandest effort yet. Told as a series of reflections that fly through his mind in the course of a single day watching swifts from his garden in Norfolk, he ranges across topics as widely as a swift ranges across the sky... Magnificent Financial Times

Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary ... A jewel of a book -- Caroline Lucas MP Veteran editor Mark Hedge talks about the challenges and rewards of leading Country Life, the magazine synonymous with British country living, for the past seventeen years. A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree An outright classic of his genre [...] If you thrill to the swifts' arrival (and mourn their annual too-soon departure), this book will enchant as they do [...] A nature classic for the new century" Magnificent [...] One Midsummer's Day situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species [...] a beautifully poised book"

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Luke Harding, the Guardian’s front-line correspondent covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will share some of the experiences and impressions captured in his new book, Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival, in addition to giving us an update on the conflict. As both the Moscow bureau chief of the newspaper and someone who has found himself directly in the cross-hairs of Putin, Luke is uniquely well positioned to analyse and report on the war. Drawing deeply on science, history, literature and a lifetime of close observation, One Midsummer's Day is a dazzling and wide-ranging celebration of all life on Earth by one of our greatest nature writers. A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations" A passionately written study of these mysterious creatures of air, fascinating and constantly thought-provoking -- Ann Wroe, author of SIX FACETS OF LIGHT