Customer Reviews
As a celebration of our wildlife, this book is a triumph - By: Brida, 11 Jan 2008 
I was given this book as a present for Christmas by my family. Within the last year, I have developed a true love of nature, so this seemed like the perfect gift. To be honest, looking at the Amazon page, I am quite surprised that THE NATURE OF BRITAIN has received such mixed reviews. One has said that the book is not definitive - well, perhaps this is the case, but it is meant to be a celebration of our landscape & our wildlife, & in this sense it is a triumph.
The book is divided into different sections covering different habitats; woodland, coast & islands, fields & meadows etc. Similar to the BBC series which accompanies this book, there are glorious colour photographs to bring to life what is being described.
As a book which can be enjoyed by people with alll levels of knowledge about the British Isles & its flora & fauna, I think this is a great book to admire & to ignite passion for the subject.
Do not treat this as the definitive guide to what is to be found within our great countries; treat it as a way of opening up the natural world that is around you. Hopefully it shalll then inspire you to go off & experience more.
hardly the definitive guide to Britain's wildlife - By: cloth ears, 04 Dec 2007 
In some way it is pretty depressing that there exists a market for this kind of rubbish. Undoubtedly it is dressed up well with some good photographs but underneath it is mutton. Does Britain's nature have to play second to the Titchmarsh ego? And instead of the rose-tinted spectacles could we not have an unclouded view of the little wildlife we have?
Out of interest I wondered how the author would describe the marvel that is a British blanket bog & square this with his use of peat in his other job. I was unsurprised to find peat bogs are given a single boxed paragraph largely saying you should stick to the boardwalks as the bog tends to be wet. On the same page is a picture of a moss that is described as a species of Sphagnum but is actuallly a completely different kind of moss. Aside from apparently not knowing what Sphagnum looks like, & being seemingly unaware that there is more than one species of it (there are about 30 & some are rare) the author recommends we pull some up & squeeze it to see the water pour out. Enough said.
Maybe I should be less critical but the book is billed as the definitive guide - it isn't. It is a coffee table book for people whose only interest in nature is that it looks nice. If you want something decent go for superb wildlife writing like Mark Cocker's 'Crow Country' or Roger Deakin's 'Wildwood' or something from Collins' New Naturalist series such as Oliver Rackham's 'Woodland'. And if you honestly just want a coffee table book buy the collection of landscape photographer of the year.
A Must Have Book - By: Technical and Artistic, 07 Nov 2007 
I saw this fantastic book brand new on the Library themed recommended table as I was on my way out so I borrowed it & I already love it so much have decided to buy my own copy & let someone else borrow it from the Library & get pleasure from it.
Well Done - By: David Simms Davey S, 13 Oct 2007 Better than most of its ilk the book was very visual & informative. I highly recommend it for those who live in Britain or those who are simply interested in this great land.
I've read similar, but this was the best of the lot. Of course a nation as great as Britain makes it easy to come up with an interesting book.
Good but there is a better book - By: Natureboy, 09 Oct 2007 I enjoy Alan Titchmarsh & this is a very good book if you want something to fill your coffee table. However, if you want to learn about Britain's flora & fauna whilst being entertained at the same time you'd be better off going somewhere like the excellent The Armchair Naturalist by Johnson P Johnson.
