The best nature writing from across the archipelago is collected in this book by renowned naturalist Patrick Barkham. The British environment has been imagined and remade via our literature for as long as we can remember, from Thomas Hardy's peaceful "Wessex" to Nan Shepherd's ferociously gorgeous Cairngorm mountains. Our collective identity has been influenced by the literature of the country, which has also permeated our stories and changed the way we perceive a location. The chosen pieces in this anthology celebrate our landscape in all its rich diversity, yet also touch on some of the issues facing the natural world today. Arranged in themes ? from woods to birds and from childhood to future nature ? The Wild Isles includes extracts from much-loved classics alongside passages by some of our finest contemporary writers such as Robert Macfarlane and Helen Macdonald. They are joined by new pieces from writers often underrepresented in nature writing. It is only in the twenty-first century that nature writing by women has begun being widely published, and only in the last decade that BAME authors are being published in this genre. Barkham's belief that it is vital that we are helped to see our landscapes through new eyes, and in new ways, whilst still celebrating long-loved classics too, makes the collection exceptional. These voices from the past and present will bring wonder as they journey around our fields, mountains and coastlines, exploring, describing and celebrating our landscapes in all their rich diversity.