United States
£ GBP
Nature has long been the source of human curiosity and wonderment, and the inspiration for some of our deepest creative impulses. But we are now witnessing its rapid impoverishment, even destruction, in much of our world.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Jeremy Mynott traces the story of nature – past, present and future. From the dramatic depictions of animals by the prehistoric cave painters, through the romantic discovery of landscape in the eighteenth century, to the climate emergency of the present day, Mynott looks at the different ways in which humankind has understood the world around it. Charting how our ideas about nature emerged and changed over time, he reveals how the impulse to control nature has deep historical roots.
As we reach an environmental crisis point, this vital study shows how human imagination and wonder can play a restorative role – and reveal what nature ultimately means to us.
Jeremy Mynott’s books include Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience, Birds in the Ancient World and The Consolation of Nature. He is an emeritus fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, and was formerly Chief Executive of Cambridge University Press.
"Totally captivating, wonderfully readable – a glorious tour de force, celebrating everything that nature means to us, exploring why it matters, and setting out what we might yet do to restore and protect it. Not just a beautiful elegy but an urgent call to action – reminding us not only of what we have already lost, but also what we still have time to save, if we choose to do so. A triumph of wisdom and wonder."
– Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton, Pavilion
"Mynott shows that we are part of nature and our potency in relation to it imposes an obligation on us. Told with an extraordinary brightness, clarity and sense of authority, this book is a marvel."
– Adam Nicolson, author of The Seabird's Cry
"Jeremy Mynott is one of our most thoughtful and intelligent nature writers. In this wide-ranging and fascinating book, as we and the natural world face existential threats to our future, he tries to answer a deceptively simple question: 'what is nature and why does it matter?'"
– Stephen Moss, author of Ten Birds That Changed the World
"Absorbing, erudite and infused with the latest scholarship [...] Mynott puts his stamp on the rich and complex but oft-told story of the meanings of nature in the western world, from palaeolithic cave art and last century's environmental thought to today's climate crisis-ridden Anthropocene and beyond."
– Peter Coates, author of Squirrel Nation: Reds, Greys and the Meaning of Home.
"The vast erudition and the clarity of Mynott's writing will make The Story of Nature not only an important resource for scholars but also an ideal textbook for many courses in history, the sciences, and the humanities."
– Boria Sax, author of Imaginary Animals
