Tristan Gooley, author of the internationally bestselling How To Read Water and The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs, shows how it is possible to achieve a level of outdoors awareness that will enable you to sense direction from stars and plants, forecast weather from woodland sounds and predict the next action of an animal from its body language – instantly.
Although once common, this now rare awareness would be labelled by many as a 'sixth sense'. We have become so distanced from this way of experiencing our environment that it may initially seem hard to believe that it is possible, but Tristan Gooley uses a collection of 'keys' to show how everyone can develop this ability and enjoy the outdoors in an exciting way – one that is both new and ancient.
Please note that this book has been published in the US with the title The Nature Instinct: Relearning Our Lost Intuition for the Inner Workings of the Natural World.
Tristan Gooley is a writer, navigator and explorer. Through his journeys, teaching and writing, he has pioneered a renaissance in the rare art of natural navigation. Tristan has led expeditions in five continents and is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic. He has explored close to home and walked with and studied the methods of tribal peoples in some of the remotest regions on Earth.
"Gooley's approach is a refreshing alternative to the encyclopaedic-style of many nature books."
– Geographical
"What's wonderful about this book is not just that it is full of helpful instructions for decoding the numerous clues the Earth provides to its workings – from the flick of a lizard's tail to a flutter in a bramble hedge – Gooley also communicates and inspires a joyful awe in the countless daily occurrences which offer observant travellers a key to the planet's miraculous system."
– Big Issue
"It's a thoughtful, lyrical book about the hidden connections between flora and fauna, the landscape and the weather, and most of its wise and wondrous observations are gleaned from the author's rambles around the English countryside [...] It's a paean to the beauty and majesty of nature, especially the nature we overlook in our back gardens and local parks. And so, amid the botany and zoology and meteorology there are snatches of pure poetry [...] And like all the best books, it makes the world around you a lot more interesting."
– The Spectator