Nature Books
Last updated: October 31, 2024
The best nature books, as recommended by the most eminent writers, ecologists and biologists in the field. Below you'll find reading lists on a variety of subjects including wilderness, climate change, pollution, the Anthropocene, ocean life, deserts and renewable energy.
The natural world is one of our most precious resources. Learning about nature and how to protect it is vital for a sustainable future.
Some of the most recommended books in our interviews include David MacKay's Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air, Douglas Adams's Last Chance to See, and Elizabeth Kolbert's Field Notes From a Catastrophe.
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1
The Cabaret of Plants: Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination
by Richard Mabey -
2
The Brief Life of Flowers
by Fiona Stafford -
3
Glasshouse Greenhouse: Haarkon's world tour of amazing botanical spaces
by India Hobson & Magnus Edmondson -
4
The Playground of the Far East
by Walter Weston -
5
Life in the Forests of the Far East
by Spenser St. John
The best books on Botany, recommended by Chris Thorogood
The best books on Botany, recommended by Chris Thorogood
In the face of climate change and widespread extinction, there has never been a more important time to study plant science, says Chris Thorogood – author of Pathless Forest: The Quest to Save the World’s Largest Flowers. Here he recommends five of his favourite books on botany, including historical accounts of plant exploration and a beautiful photobook profiling the world’s most impressive botanical gardens.
The best books on Wilderness, recommended by Mark Boyle
Author and environmentalist Mark Boyle lived for three years without money; now he lives entirely off-grid and eschews all forms of modern technology, in search of a wilder way of living—and of being more in tune with the natural world. Here he discusses his literary inspirations: the best books on wilderness.
The best books on Wilding, recommended by Isabella Tree
Is there room for both humans and wild nature to flourish on an increasingly crowded planet? The author Isabella Tree argues that ‘wilding’ can be benefit both, and chooses five books to support her case.
Amy Liptrot chooses the best of Nature Writing
Amy Liptrot, whose bestselling memoir The Outrun won the 2016 Wainwright Prize for nature writing, talks to Five Books about her favourite writing about landscape—and how her immersion in island life helped her recover from alcoholism.
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1
Wild Child: Coming Home to Nature
by Patrick Barkham -
2
English Pastoral: An Inheritance
by James Rebanks -
3
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
by Merlin Sheldrake -
4
The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge
by Jeffrey J Kripal -
5
Vesper Flights
by Helen Macdonald (author and narrator)
The Best Nature Books of 2020, recommended by Charles Foster
The Best Nature Books of 2020, recommended by Charles Foster
Charles Foster—the barrister, ethicist and bestselling author of Being a Beast—selects five brilliant nature books that reflect a new boom in nature writing in 2020, many of which ask us to examine more closely the interconnectedness of all things.
The best books on Predators, recommended by Nick Pyenson
The predators that stalked our ancestors have been marginalised to the brink of extinction, but these animals still fill us with awe, says Nick Pyenson. They play a vital role in life on Earth, and we need to understand them if we are to survive.
The Best Henry David Thoreau Books, recommended by Laura Dassow Walls
Again and again we return to the question: how should we live? To Henry David Thoreau, the 19th-century author, philosopher and naturalist, the answer was simplicity itself. Here his biographer Laura Dassow Walls selects five key texts that explore the Thoreauvian way of thinking.
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1
The Planet in a Pebble: A journey into Earth's deep history
by Jan Zalasiewicz -
2
Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth
by Andrew H Knoll -
3
The Emerald Planet
by D J Beerling -
4
Gaining Ground
by Jennifer Clack -
5
The Cradle of Humanity: How the changing landscape of Africa made us so smart
by Mark Maslin
The best books on Evolution of the Earth, recommended by Andrew Scott
The best books on Evolution of the Earth, recommended by Andrew Scott
How has the Earth changed over time and what role has fire played in those changes? A leading geologist, Andrew Scott, identifies key stages and books to help understand them
The best books on Volcanoes, recommended by David Pyle
Volcanoes not only play a vital role in the Earth’s ecosystem but have fascinated us down the ages. Oxford University volcanologist David Pyle recommends some of his favourite books about volcanoes.
The best books on Spiders, recommended by Lawrence Bee
You don’t have to be a professional arachnologist to study and get excited about spiders—nor do you need to travel away from home. The author of Britain’s Spiders, Lawrence Bee, recommends all the books you need to become an amateur arachnologist.