In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor, six shadowy figures huddle around a table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: "Captain Trevelyan . . . dead . . . murder." And it’s a book about wonder. The loss of nature matters, at least in part, because we lose the opportunity to have ‘Wow!’ moments where we see things that we couldn’t have imagined and that are so beautiful and are part of our, yes our, world. Our only world. He means a time before flowers, a time when the world was just shades of green. Then some plants began to use insects instead of the wind to move their pollen around. Voila! It didn't have to happen, he says. Nothing said it had to happen before we came along: we might well be living happily - in so far as we can live happily at all - in an all-green world still, and perhaps we would never miss what we never had.

Joy has a component, if not of morality, then at least of seriousness. It signifies a happiness which is a serious business" Or a moth he happened upon on a hike. Or a butterfly. Or perhaps it is within his DNA, and not just his. But it is not in any way my contention that the love of nature is universal. What is universal, I believe, is the propensity to love it; the fact that loving it is possible for people. It is clear that more than half of all Britain's wildlife, as it existed at the end of the Second World War, has now gone". It is this: there can be occasions when we suddenly and involuntarily find ourselves loving the natural world with a startling intensity, in a burst of emotion which we may not fully understand, and the only word that seems to me to be appropriate for this feeling is joy, and when I talk of the joy we can find in nature, this is what I mean...That the natural world can bring us peace; that the natural world can give us joy: these are the confirmations of what many people may instinctively feel but have not been able to articulate; that nature is not an extra, a luxury, but on the contrary is indispensable, part of our essence. And now that knowledge needs to be brought to nature's defence."Had me on the edge of my seat for the entire thing!… So gripping… I read this book in less than 24 hours.’ @em_reads64 This is a book about loss – and about joy, and about wonder, and about hope. There’s a lot about the loss of nature over the last few decades and the author mixes this with memories of personal loss. A love of nature can be a support and strength during one’s life. Mike writes really well and he tells a good tale. I smiled once or twice when I read accounts which I have also heard from the author’s own mouth as we have quaffed claret with others over a good dinner.

George Osborne should read this book – but he just wouldn’t get it. Or maybe he would – it is very engagingly written. I have a few issues regarding his writing (there was some repetition of points) and his overall point - I wholeheartedly agree, but it felt like he didn't base it on anything but intuition. And intuition is rarely enough if you want to convince the rest of the world, even if your intuition is right. I heard the author interviewed by Krista Tippett on her On Being podcast and wanted to hear more from him. I learned so much about what's going on in the natural world that I either don't pay attention to or isn't widely published. So many fascinating stories, including many from his life. I thought my best friend’s death must have been an accident. But as I look down at the footprints in the deep snow, I suddenly see the truth: my oldest friends have been lying to me and one of them was the killer… but which one? As the power goes out and we become completely cut off from the mainland I suddenly realise that I’m surrounded by people I can’t trust. So I have to face the facts: did one of us do this? Can I find the answers in this raging storm? And if I do, will I be next?

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Absolutely amazing!… hard to put down. I felt what the characters felt, as if I were right there watching it all’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐