Roger Morgan-Grenville

Two men decide to become beekeepers, learning about nature and about themselves in the process.

Bees and the Pursuit of Midlife Honey

Liquid Gold

A very personal mix of memoir and natural history from the author of Liquid Gold. Ten weeks into its life, a Manx shearwater chick will emerge from its burrow and fly 8,000 miles from the west coast of the British Isles to the South Atlantic. It will be unlikely to touch land again for four years. Part memoir, part homage to wilderness, Shearwater traces the author's 50-year obsession with one of nature's supreme travellers. In the finest tradition of nature writing, Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of Liquid Gold - described by Mary Colwell (Curlew Moon) as 'a book that ignites joy and warmth' - unpicks the science behind its incredible journey; and into the story of a year in the shearwater's life, he threads the inspirational influence of his Hebridean grandmother who instilled in him a love of wild places and wild animals. Full of lightly-worn knowledge, acute human observation and self-deprecating humour, Shearwater brings to life a truly mysterious and charismatic bird.

A Bird, an Ocean, and a Long Way Home

Shearwater

A veteran nature writer walks the length of Britain in pursuit of spring, and of hope for the natural world--from the author of Shearwater and Taking Stock Fed up with bleak headlines of biodiversity loss, acclaimed nature writer Roger Morgan-Grenville sets out on a 1,000-mile walk through a British spring to see whether there are reasons to be hopeful about the natural world. His aim is to match the pace at which the oak leaves emerge, roughly 40 kilometers north each day. Fighting illness, blizzards and his own aging body, he visits every main habitat between Lymington and Cape Wrath in an epic eight-week adventure, encountering, over and over again, the kindness of strangers and the inspiring efforts of those fighting heroically for nature. A life-affirming--and life-changing--journey about the resilience of the natural world and how spring is changing across Europe.

A 1,000-Mile Walk Through a British Spring

Across a Waking Land

A veteran nature writer walks the length of Britain in pursuit of spring, and of hope Fed up with bleak headlines of biodiversity loss, acclaimed nature writer Roger Morgan-Grenville sets out on a 1,000-mile walk through a British spring to see whether there are reasons to be hopeful about the natural world. His aim is to match the pace at which the oak leaves emerge, roughly 20 miles north each day. Fighting illness, blizzards and his own ageing body, he visits every main habitat between Lymington and Cape Wrath in an epic eight-week adventure, encountering, over and over again, the kindness of strangers and the inspiring efforts of those fighting heroically for nature. With surprising conclusions throughout, what unfolds is both life-affirming and life-changing.

'Funny, insightful and hugely informative ... a charming book' DAILY MAIL 'Tremendous ... We all need to take stock, and this is the ideal starting point. I learnt a lot from this book and laughed a lot too.' ROSAMUND YOUNG, author of The Secret Life of Cows Since highland cattle ransacked his grandmother's vegetable patch when he was six, Roger Morgan-Grenville has been fascinated by cows. So at the age of 61, with no farming experience, he signed on as a part- time labourer on a beef cattle farm to tell their side of the story. The result is this lyrical and evocative book. For 10,000 years, cow and human lives have been intertwined. Cattle have existed alongside us, fed and shod us, quenched our thirst, and provided a thousand other tiny services, and yet most of us know little about them. We are also blissfully unaware of the de-natured lives we often ask them to lead. Part history, part adventure and part unsentimental manifesto for how we should treat cows in the 21st century, Taking Stock asks us to think carefully about what we eat, and to let nature back into food production.

A Journey Among Cows

Taking Stock

As Roger Morgan-Grenville prepares for a new season with the White Hunter Cricket Club, he is starting to feel his age, so he embarks on a secret plan of coaching, yoga and psychology to improve his game. Will he emerge as a sporting demi-god, or will his team-mates even notice the difference? This is the humorous and heartwarming story of that cricket season, as the White Hunters go from disaster to triumph. It is a tale of competitiveness, suspense, excellence, hospitality and incompetence, such as the missing fielder found asleep in the woods and the two opening bowlers whose MG Roadster breaks down on the way to the game. From the Castle Ground at Arundel to a field next to a nudist camp in France, players such as the Tree Hugger, the Gun Runner, and their wicket-keeper, the Human Sieve, share the dream that this might be their day. Above all, it is the uplifting story of friendship among a team of not-very-good players who find enough moments of near brilliance to remind them why they love the game of cricket.

A Season of Midlife Cricket

Unlimited Overs

David Gower

Richard Perkins

A delightful and witty book that is also a love letter to cricket through the story of an accidental club that has lasted 25 years and 263 matchesNot everyone can be a true sports hero. Most of us lost out in life's sports lottery, and we have to find whatever virtue we can in effort and incompetence. Not Out First Ball is a laugh-out-loud manifesto for anyone who has ever silently sobbed at the sight of their off stump cartwheeling off into the distance, or thrown their bat in disgust onto an autumn bonfire. "To field idly at long off in the evening sunshine is to peep back over the wall to when things moved slower, cost less and didn't always need to signify something. At a time of digital abundance, the whole glorious point of cricket is that so much of it is utterly pointless." Roger Morgan-Grenville and Richard Perkins have written a book that is not only funny but also immensely insightful and profound. All cricketers (and maybe even their wives) will identify with the authors' experiences and those of their teammates. Long listed for the MCC Book of the Year 2012.

Roger Morgan-Grenville

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