Julian Hoffman – författare

Lose yourself in the beauty of nature this winter...A ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020For readers of George Monbiot, Isabella Tree and Robert Macfarlane - an urgent and lyrical account of endangered places around the globe and the people fighting to save them.'Powerful, timely, beautifully written and wonderfully hopeful' Rob Cowen, author of Common GroundAll across the world, irreplaceable habitats are under threat. Unique ecosystems of plants and animals are being destroyed by human intervention. From the tiny to the vast, from marshland to meadow, and from Kent to Glasgow to India to America, they are disappearing.Irreplaceable is a love letter to the haunting beauty of these landscapes and their wild species. Exploring coral reefs and remote mountains, tropical jungle, ancient woodland and urban allotments, it traces the stories of threatened places through local communities, grassroots campaigners, ecologists and academics.Julian Hoffman's rigorous, impassioned account is a timely reminder of the vital connections between humans and nature - and all that we stand to lose. It is a powerful call to arms in the face of unconscionable natural destruction.*****'A terrific book, prescient, serious and urgent' Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun'Unforgettable. At a time when the Earth often seems broken beyond repair, this courageous and hopeful book offers life-changing encounters with the more-than-human world' Nancy Campbell, author of The Library of Ice'Wonderful, tender and subtle, beautifully written and filled with a calm authority' Adam Nicolson, author of The Seabird's Cry*Highly Commended Finalist for the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation 2020*

In The Small Heart of Things, Julian Hoffman intimately examines the myriad ways in which connections to the natural world can be deepened through an equality of perception, whether it’s a caterpillar carrying its house of leaves, transhumant shepherds ranging high mountain pastures, a quail taking cover on an empty steppe, or a Turkmen family emigrating from Afghanistan to Istanbul. The narrative spans the common—and often contested—ground that supports human and natural communities alike, seeking the unsung stories that sustain us.Guided by the belief of Rainer Maria Rilke that “everything beckons us to perceive it,” Hoffman explores the area around the Prespa Lakes, the first transboundary park in the Balkans, shared by Greece, Albania, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. From there he travels widely to regions rarely written about, exploring the idea that home is wherever we happen to be if we accord that place our close and patient attention.The Small Heart of Things is a book about looking and listening. It incorporates travel and natural history writing that interweaves human stories with those of wild creatures. Distinguished by Hoffman’s belief that through awareness, curiosity, and openness we have the potential to forge abiding relationships with a range of places, it illuminates how these many connections can teach us to be at home in the world.

*AN FT BEST SUMMER BOOK 2025 / Shortlisted for The Anglo-Hellenic League’s Runciman Award / Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize‘Quite magical... A book that will refresh your soul.’ Carol Drinkwater, author of The Olive FarmThe true story of a courageous leap into a new life.___In the summer of 2000, Julian Hoffman and his wife Julia found themselves disillusioned with city life. Overwhelmed by long commutes, they stumbled upon a book about Prespa, Greece – a remote corner of Europe filled with stone villages, snow-capped mountains and wildlife, which they would soon call home.Prespa is a crossroads. Where three countries come together around two huge lakes, where limestone collides with granite and heat-pulsing Mediterranean ecosystems meet their colder, Balkan relatives. Here, languages, wartime histories and rivers converge, and pelicans, bears and people leave their footprints on the water’s edge – next to unexploded bombs.Lifelines is not only the tale of a courageous leap into a new life, but of seasons punctuated by unforgettable encounters, from a stare-down with a bear surrounded by spring wildflowers to a deep-winter meeting with fourteen wrens sheltering above a frozen doorway. And into this place encircled by mountains, Julian seamlessly weaves an intricate web of stories – of conflict and possibility; of refuge lost and found; of the wild lifelines that connect us all as we move through the world seeking a home.___‘Knockout beautiful... a lifeline in itself.’ Keggie Carew, author of Dadland‘I’ve been wondering for several years whether it was now possible for anyone writing in English to write a great book about living in Greece. Well, here it is.’ John Kittmer, former British Ambassador to Greece‘A reflective, encouraging and exquisitely written memoir full of astute observations.’ Henry Bird, The Times‘Set against the spectacular mountains and lakes of northern Greece, this remarkable book describes Julian and Julia's odyssey as they meet others on similar quests to find home, be they bears, pelicans or humans. Utterly relevant to our times.’ Lee Durrell, MBE