At the end of the eighteenth-century Britain fell in love with nature. Thomas Bewick's "History of British Birds" marked the moment: the first 'field-guide' for ordinary people, illustrated by woodcuts of astonishing accuracy and beauty. This biography tells a story of violent change, radi...

At the end of the eighteenth-century Britain fell in love with nature. Thomas Bewick's "History of British Birds" marked the moment: the first 'field-guide' for ordinary people, illustrated by woodcuts of astonishing accuracy and beauty. This biography tells a story of violent change, radical politics, lost ways of life and the beauty of the wild.