Simon Marsh - Böcker

The story of the battle of Turnham Green and how 'the sack of London' was prevented by Londoners. As Charles I's army marched on the capital in the autumn of 1642, Nehemiah Wallington, a wood-turner living near London Bridge, wrote in his journal, 'those cruel cavilers doe so plonder & pillage & commit Rapin & use such cruelty that the poore people are caused to fly from house and home to save their children'. Most Londoners shared his fears that city would be pillaged and burnt by the king's supporters, who had been vilified in the London press and from the pulpits. Londoners had willingly joined the Earl of Essex's army that summer but had failed to stop the advance of the king's army. The capture and sack of Brentford, so close to their city, confirmed their worst fears, for their own safety and that of their families. London would be next. At Turnham Green the Civil War that had pitched Englishman against Englishman came to London. On 13 November thousands of volunteers streamed out of the city to join the army and the most ferocious battle in London's long history began. The outcome would mark a turning point in the conflict that had split the nation.

We live in a time of climate crisis and ecological emergency. The UK is among the most nature-depleted countries in the world. There are many reasons for this, but our long history of industrial and urban development is one of them. Badly planned development, from roads to housing, is still causing major problems for wildlife. We have to plan better and more in harmony with nature. Planning for Nature tells the story of planning battles to save special places for nature, to inspire people who want to protect such sites from bad development.Drawing on the author’s extensive personal experience and on interviews with planners and conservationists at the front line, the book focuses on planning battles in the UK since around the turn of the millennium, particularly how the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, other wildlife bodies and local communities have fought development proposals which would harm some of our most important wildlife sites. Case studies cover many different types of development, from airports to housing, windfarms to golf courses, across every part of the UK.Planning for Nature recounts battles won and lost but also imagines a better future for planning and nature. Along the way it reflects on why high-quality habitats are so important, and considers key principles of good planning for nature. There are hints and tips for campaigners who love nature and want to protect important places from the dangers of bad development.

"By turns absurd, sophisticated, bawdy, tender, precise and sprawling, The Pistol Tree Poems captures the intellectual intimacy and infectious spontaneity of poetic collaboration at its white-hot best. There's brilliance and ingenuity on display in every poem here-a searching co-intelligence shot through with moments of emotional intensity." (Nathan Thompson)