Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2014
- Britain is the home of the badger
- there are more badgers per square kilometre in this country than in any other. & yet many of us have never seen one alive & in the wild. They are nocturnal creatures who vanish into their labyrinthine underground setts at the first hint of a human. Here, Patrick Barkham follows in the footsteps of his badger-loving grandmother, to meet the feeders, farmers & scientists who know their way around Badgerlands: the mysterious world in which these distinctively striped creatures snuffle, dig & live out their complex social lives. As the debate over the badger cull continues, Barkham weighs the evidence on both sides of the argument, & delves into the rich history of the badger
- from their prehistoric arrival in Britain & their savage persecution over the centuries, to Kenneth Grahame`s fictional creation in Wind in the Willows & the badger who became a White House pet. From the celebrated author of The Butterfly Isles, this is rich, vivid nature writing at its best.