Beastly Britain

Karen R. Jones is professor of environmental and cultural history at the University of Kent. She has written on trails, wolves, beasts, conservation, and much more in both the US and the UK. Her books include Calamity, The Invention of the Park, and Wolf Mountains.

“This is a truly wonderful book, erudite and fun.”—Elisa Segrave, Spectator“Jones [weaves] narratives that are as enlightening and informative as they are captivating and entertaining. . . . The physical quality of the book—the rich and creamy paper, the exquisitely chosen type face and ink colour, [and] illustrations that harken back to natural history books of a time now sadly lost . . . make this a work that will most certainly entice any ardent bibliophile and do honor to the shelf upon which it is placed.”—Well-Read Naturalist“A delightful book. A true, and extremely critterly, treasure.”—Paula Dempsey, Fortean Times“Well researched . . . and well written.”—Mark Avery’s Blog“Jones’s pages bloom with detail, anecdotes and aperçus. She is ridiculously readable to boot.”—John Lewis-Stempel, Country Life“The book does a fine job of celebrating animals that have been overlooked, ignored or even persecuted by humans. . . . I came away after reading Beastly Britain feeling a renewed sense of humility and respect for our fellow creatures—I’m sure you'll experience the same.”—Josh Jones, Birdwatch“An enchanting book. Beautiful illustrations, facts, stories and anecdotes offer surprises in every chapter, as we hear about the remarkable habits and long, long stories of British fauna. A walk in the garden, a wood or field will never be the same again. By helping us to love the hidden lives around us, Beastly Britain invites us to cherish and protect what survives.”—Fiona Stafford, author of The Long, Long Life of Trees“A wonderful blend of nature and history; of curiosity and revelation.”—Benedict Macdonald, author of Rebirding“Its exquisite descriptions of flea circuses and their performers’ distinct abilities or sinisterly wolfish black dogs living nearly next door to my cottage are all too beguilingly brilliant to bypass.”—Derek Gow, author of Bringing Back the Beaver“Fascinating, quirky, and often personal. . . . May well transform the way readers see their island, themselves, and the critters that they live alongside.”—Andrew Flack, author of The Wild Within