Ranging from the largest terrestrial carnivore, the Polar Bear, & hyper-predatory wild cats, to the tiny Least Weasel that can squeeze through a wedding ring, the true carnivores
- order Carnivora
- include some of the world's most charismatic, admired, feared & spectacular creatures. The first comprehensive guide to every terrestrial species, this book profiles all 250 of the world's carnivores. A detailed account for each species describes key identification characteristics, distribution & habitat, behaviour, feeding ecology, social patterns, life-history statistics, conservation & the latest on classification, including some unexpected discoveries. Eighty-six magnificent specially commissioned colour plates by top wildlife artist Priscilla Barrett depict each species, with subspecies & colour variations shown for many. There are line drawings of skulls (230) & footprints (110), as well as black-&-white sketches depicting the behaviour of specific species (45). This is an essential reading for anyone interested in wildlife
- appeals to travellers, wildlife enthusiasts, mammal students, conservation planners & specialists. The countries with many of the most spectacular carnivores are of key importance as ecotourism destinations. Expanding local markets as wildlife conservation assumes greater prominence locally.


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All Great Britain & Ireland`s resident & migrant dragonfly & damselfly species fully described & illustrated with more than 280 colour works by Richard Lewington, one of Europe`s foremost wildlife illustrators. Fully updated, this 2014 edition features full descriptions, ecological notes & distribution maps, as well as a general introduction & regional guide to the best places to watch dragonflies. The 2002 edition was shortlisted for the BP Natural World Book Prize. ...

”A ground-breaking identification guide.. . the perfect marriage of artistic excellence, deep knowledge &, dare I say it, of scientists` genuine affection.” BRETT WESTWOODThis brand new illustrated field guide covers all 47 species of ladybird occurring in the British Isles in a handy & easy-to-use format. Twenty-seven species are colourful & conspicuous & easily recognised as ladybirds; the remaining species are more challenging, but the clear illustrations & up-to-date text in this guide will help to break down the identification barriers. A useful introduction provides an overview of ladybird ecology, tips on studying & recording, & suggested sites for finding ladybirds. The main part of the book comprises detailed species texts, covering field characters, food, habitats, suggested survey methods, ranges, conservation statuses & distribution trends. An illustrated at-a-glance identification guide & helpful pointers for differentiating similar-looking species are also included. With 102 colour photographs & 47 distribution maps, combined with Richard Lewington`s peerless artwork, this is the definitive guide to one of our most cherished & charismatic insect groups. ...

Of the world`s 4 000 to 4 500 mammal species, about 1 100 occur in Africa. In this updated & revised edition of Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa, authors Chris & Tilde Stuart concentrate on the more visible & easily distinguished larger mammal species, plus some of the more frequently seen smaller mammals. In all, over 400 colour photographs, combined with concise, pertinent information highlighting the diagnostic features of each species, provide a comprehensive source of information on each mammal. The latest information has been incorporated & the distribution maps have been revised to reflect the most up-to-date habitat & distribution patterns for each species. A new feature is the inclusion of the mammals` skulls, grouped together at the back of the book. To aid the reader, colour coding & symbols indicating the habitat & activity period serve as a quick reference to the various mammal groups. ...

This is the first comprehensive identification guide to the rich Mediterranean flora of the Algarve region of southern Portugal, including the Cape St. Vincent Peninsula National Park, an area of immense botanical importance with numerous endemic & rare species. The Algarve is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe (it receives more than 7 million tourists per annum), & this guide is the essential companion for wildlife tourists, & the first comprehensive easy-to-use identification guide to its wild flowers. Information is provided on where & when to see plants with information on their habitat & vegetation types. In addition rare & unusual plants of the region are highlighted, including orchids & parasitic plants. With over 1, 000 species descriptions, the book is abundantly illustrated throughout with over 650 stunning colour photographs, 780 line drawings & distribution maps. ...

This field guide to the trees of Southern Africa covers Approx. 900 of the species found in the region. The trees are grouped into sections according to leaf shape, & each section is identified by a line drawing of the ”leaf group”. Each species is illustrated by photographs of the diagnostic tree parts, which may include flowers, fruit, bark, or a combination of these. Concise descriptions of each tree are written with an emphasis on identification & the authors provide additional information on medicinal & other uses of the tree parts where it may be of interest to the reader. ...

Erwin Rommel was a complex man: a born leader, brilliant soldier, a devoted husband & proud father; intelligent, instinctive, brave, compassionate, vain, egotistical, & arrogant. In France in 1940, then for two years in North Africa, then finally back in France once again, at Normandy in 1944, he proved himself a master of armored warfare, running rings around a succession of Allied generals who never got his measure & could only resort to overwhelming numbers to bring about his defeat. & yet for all his military genius, Rommel was also naive, a man who could admire Adolf Hitler at the same time that he despised the Nazis, dazzled by a Fuhrer whose successes blinded him to the true nature of the Third Reich. Above all, he was the quintessential German patriot, who ultimately would refuse to abandon his moral compass, so that on one pivotal day in June 1944 he came to understand that he had mistakenly served an evil man & evil cause. He would still fight for Germany even as he abandoned his oath of allegiance to the Fuhrer, when he came to realize that Hitler had morphed into nothing more than an agent of death & destruction. In the end Erwin Rommel was forced to die by his own h&, not because, as some would claim, he had dabbled in a tyrannicidal conspiracy, but because he had committed a far greater crime
- he dared to tell Adolf Hitler the truth. In Field Marshal historian Daniel Allen Butler not only describes the swirling, innovative campaigns in which Rommel won his military reputation, but assesses the temper of the man who finally fought only for his country, & no dark depths beyond.
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The world has known about global warming since the late 1970s, yet little has been done to halt it. The threat, if we fail, is nothing less than catastrophe
- the flooding of coastal communities, the extinction of species & entry into a climate regime of which humans have no experience. Exploring the relationship between what we know & what we refuse to know, Elizabeth Kolbert takes us on an urgent journey from the Arctic to Central America, interviewing researchers, environmentalists & traditional Inuits whose lives have already been dramatically altered by climate change.
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Field Notes From a Hidden City is set against the background of the austere, grey & beautiful northeast Scottish city of Aberdeen. In it, Esther Woolfson examines the elements
- geographic, atmospheric & environmental
- which bring diverse life forms to live in close proximity in cities. Using the circumstances of her own life, house, garden & city, she writes of the animals who live among us: the birds
- gulls, starlings, pigeons, sparrows & others; the rats & squirrels; the spiders & the insects. In beautiful, absorbing prose, Woolfson describes the seasons, the streets & the quiet places of her city over the course of a year, which begins with the exceptional cold & snow of 2010. Influenced by her own long experience of corvids, she considers prevailing attitudes towards the natural world, urban & non-urban wildlife, the values we place on the lives of individual species & the ways in which man & creature live together in cities.


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Against the background of austere & beautiful Aberdeen, Woolfson observes the seasons, the streets & the quiet places of her city over the course of a year. She considers the geographic, atmospheric & environmental elements which bring diverse life forms together in close proximity, & in absorbing prose writes of the animals among us: the birds, the rats & squirrels, the spiders & the insects. Her close examination of the natural world leads her to question our prevailing attitudes to urban & non-urban wildlife, & to look again at the values we place on the lives of individual species. ...