Jules Pretty is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex. He is the author of many books,including The Edge of Extinction and This Luminous Coast, both from Comstock Publishing Associates, and The Earth Only Endures. He is coeditor most recently of Green Exercise.

• PrefaceA Geographic LocatorJanuary1. The Winter Hesitation2. One Glossy Ibis and Many Ticks3. Winter Gales and Beliefs4. Walk the Line5. The Weight of a Snipe6. The Old BattlefieldFebruary7. Paths and Prints in Snow8. Closing Time9. To Iken10. Saturation11. The Box ValleyMarch12. Disturbing Hints of Spring13. The Beach Crows14. Some Spring for Celandine15. Blackthorn Days16. The Blue Light of SpringApril17. Two Buzzards18. The Long Night of Hope19. Mystery Solved20. Nightingales and Green Men21. Sailors' Reading Room22. The Assington ElmsMay23. The Owl and the Sun24. The Bat and the Wild25. Time Travel26. Since Records Began27. Bells in the Cow Parsley Section28. Encounters29. The Northern Sky30. All Four MarginsJune31. Magic in the Thicks32. The Lost Shore33. Hollyhock Summer34. A Submission35. Lay-Bys of the A1236. The Cottage Hospital37. Come Back the Wild38. AnniversaryJuly39. Village Edgelands40. Nature at a Nuclear Power Station41. Digging for Victory42. Under Another Atomic Sky43. Heat WaveAugust44. Pause for Ragwort45. The End of the Road46. Nightwalk47. Soon, the Departure48. The Tinker's Cottage49. The TurnSeptember50. The Path51. Mud Birds52. Angels in the Back Lanes53. Season of Mist and Fire54. In Memoriam55. The Rhythym of Farm NamesOctober56. Insect Life57. A New Anniversary58. Things and Doubt59. Alarm Call60. The Sands of Another Summer61. Wait for the EndNovember62. Bonfire Night63. At First, Silence64. The Night Hours65. Leaf Fall and Mists66. Beach Fishermen and Water Sprites67. Much Can Change in a Short Time68. Passing YearsDecember69. A Marsh Murmuration70. Poor Man's Heaven71. Dark and Wet at Solstice72. Pruning and Planning73. Dark and Wet, Again74. An East WindCrossing the New YearAcknowledgmentsNotes by TaleBibliographyList of Photographs

I'm in step with Prof Jules Pretty. Who wouldn't be, when he rightly recognises the link between a healthy natural world and good mental health in humans – and trumpets the message? Like him, I love getting outdoors to feel the sun (and rain) on my skin and notice the different rhythm. You could say I've bought the T-shirt along with the waterproof walking boots and warm coat.(The East Anglian Daily Times) His celebration of the landscape incorporates memoir and poetry, natural history and spiritual reflection, but also a critique of where current policies are leading us. 'Nature will carry on regardless,' he suggest. 'It is just that we might not.'- Matthew Reisz (Times Higher Education)