Spring is the Only Season
How it Works, What it Does and Why it Matters
1st Edition
Published on 13. March 2025
448 pages
978-1-5266-6733-5 (ISBN)
Description
'A book that filled me from first to last with a rapture as transcendent and thrilling as that which spring yearly provides ... I absolutely adored it!' STEPHEN FRY
'As dynamic and ebullient as the season it celebrates ... There is no one I'd rather spring into spring with than Simon Barnes' KATE HUMBLE
'An endlessly illuminating love letter to the most beguiling of the seasons' LEE SCHOFIELD, author of the award-winning Wild Fell
Spring is the time of renewal and rebirth, a celebration of the resilience of life. As the year turns, animals and plants that have struggled to survive the winter find new hope and create the next generation. The season has inspired some of humanity's greatest art and many of its most significant religious festivals.
Now, in Spring is the Only Season, Simon Barnes provides a fresh and compelling look at this period of the year. He explains the science of the seasons, which are caused by the planet's 23.5 degree tilt; he also highlights the music, the paintings and the poetry that have tried to capture it. Packed with fascinating insights, remarkable facts and key stories, the book is a vivid and multi-faceted portrait of spring.
However, while the Earth will continue to spin on its tilting axis, he reveals how our impact on the planet is beginning to destroy the natural course of the seasons, and that elements of the beloved spring - from migrating birds to emerging butterflies - are endangered by climate change. But it's not too late. Not yet. We can still make a difference and so continue to enjoy the pleasures of spring.
'As dynamic and ebullient as the season it celebrates ... There is no one I'd rather spring into spring with than Simon Barnes' KATE HUMBLE
'An endlessly illuminating love letter to the most beguiling of the seasons' LEE SCHOFIELD, author of the award-winning Wild Fell
Spring is the time of renewal and rebirth, a celebration of the resilience of life. As the year turns, animals and plants that have struggled to survive the winter find new hope and create the next generation. The season has inspired some of humanity's greatest art and many of its most significant religious festivals.
Now, in Spring is the Only Season, Simon Barnes provides a fresh and compelling look at this period of the year. He explains the science of the seasons, which are caused by the planet's 23.5 degree tilt; he also highlights the music, the paintings and the poetry that have tried to capture it. Packed with fascinating insights, remarkable facts and key stories, the book is a vivid and multi-faceted portrait of spring.
However, while the Earth will continue to spin on its tilting axis, he reveals how our impact on the planet is beginning to destroy the natural course of the seasons, and that elements of the beloved spring - from migrating birds to emerging butterflies - are endangered by climate change. But it's not too late. Not yet. We can still make a difference and so continue to enjoy the pleasures of spring.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
File size
9,70 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-5266-6733-5 (9781526667335)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 03/2026
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€14.00
Not yet published
Book
03/2025
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€24.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Simon Barnes is a writer and journalist who was the chief sportswriter and wildlife columnist for The Times until 2014, having worked for the paper for 30 years. He is the author of many wild volumes, including the bestselling Bad Birdwatcher trilogy, Rewild Yourself and, most recently, How to be a Bad Botanist. He is a trustee of Conservation South Luangwa and patron of Save the Rhino. In 2014, he was awarded the Rothschild Medal for services to conservation. He lives in Norfolk with his family, where he manages several acres for wildlife.
Content
- Cover
- Praise Page
- Author Bio
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Foreword
- 1 Astronomical spring
- 2 Botanical spring
- 3 Spring comes to Streatham
- 4 Mythological spring
- 5 The song of spring
- 6 Poetic spring
- 7 Spring on the wing
- 8 Feasting in spring
- 9 Springtime travellers
- 10 Sporting spring
- 11 Sweet spring
- 12 Lady Chatterley's spring
- 13 The dark side of spring
- 14 Portraits of spring
- 15 Spring awakenings
- 16 Love in the spring
- 17 Oological spring
- 18 Agricultural spring
- 19 Spring at sea
- 20 Agribusiness in spring
- 21 Phenological spring
- 22 Subversive spring
- 23 Spring in the time of climate change
- 23.5 Spring comes to Holkham
- Acknowledgements
- Index
- Image Credits
