One Midsummer's Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth

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The winner of the 2022 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, Shunta Morimoto, will dazzle us with a solo recital of Mozart, Brahms and Rameau. If like me you love swifts, this one is for you, but its scope and appeal takes in a far wider range of summer wildlife, too"

The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of The Guardian's Counrtry Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts.In this closing session of EA Festival 2023, festival founder Joanne Ooi posed 5 questions to legendary TV producer John Lloyd, leading to some ridiculous anecdotes and absurd pranks.

A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of Across a Waking Land What is even more amazing than what we learn about swifts is how little we know about them, still. Until 1943, when hunters in a Peruvian rainforest flushed out 13 ringed birds from a hollow tree, observers north and south of the equator had no idea where swifts went for half of the year, and we’re still not much the wiser. The birds’ scientific name, Apus apus, comes from a Greek root word meaning “footless” because of an ancient belief that they never landed; in the 17th century, British swift watchers thought they flew to the moon in winter. Now, thanks to a recent Swedish study, we know that in the non-breeding season, many birds spend 99% of their time flying, eating and sleeping on the wing, and some never land at all. Veteran editor Mark Hedge talks about the challenges and rewards of leading Country Life, the magazine synonymous with British country living, for the past seventeen years. A beautiful, brilliant, mind-stretching and soul-flying book. Genius Horatio Clare, author of A Single Swallow Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary [...] A jewel of a book"A passionately written study of these mysterious creatures of air, fascinating and constantly thought-provoking -- Ann Wroe, author of SIX FACETS OF LIGHT A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling -- Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of ACROSS A WAKING LAND A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations"

Situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species... A beautifully poised book Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast As BBC Radio 4’s longest serving presenter with front-line experience reporting some of the biggest global news stories of the 90s, Justin Webb shared his observations about how journalism, news, audiences and the media industry have evolved since he began his career and how we can clean up or upgrade the media environment so that the news can fulfil its original and most important purpose – accurately and objectively informing the public about important events that affect civic discourse. If like me you love swifts, this one is for you, but its scope and appeal takes in a far wider range of summer wildlife, too * Bird Watching, *Book of the Month* * Anna Mathias and Cullen Murphy delve into the life of Anna’s father, Milton Gendel, the celebrated photographer who lived in Rome for 70 years. Just Passing Through, Gendel’s diaries painstakingly edited by Cullen, are a window thrown open on to the who’s who of artists, writers, and socialites who inhabited la dolce vita and include Mark Rothko, Princess Margaret, Alexander Calder, Anaïs Nin, Gore Vidal and Muriel Spark. His longtime home on the Isola Tiberina was a nerve centre of this glamorous and creative generation, whose comings and goings he immortalised in both words and images. It's not often I am moved to tears. I wish you could reprint the last chapter of One Midsummer's Day as a free-standing essay and give it out to every schoolchild in the country Kathleen Jamie, author of The Tree HouseSwifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds. Their migrations span continents and their twelve-week stopover, when they pause to breed in European rooftops, is the very definition of summer. They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads. No birds are more wreathed in mystery. The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of the Guardian's Country Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts

A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary ... A jewel of a book -- Caroline Lucas MP Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshopsIf like me you love swifts, this one is for you, but its scope and appeal takes in a far wider range of summer wildlife, too Bird Watching, *Book of the Month* Brilliant, zany and unique are just a few of the adjectives that describe the genius of Milton Jones’ stand-up comedy — verbal absurdity delivered with unerring, deadpan timing. You will roll with laughter and never forget his outlandishly clever, cleverly outlandish show.