Michael Viney's nature writing needs no introduction or recommendation, least of all in this newspaper which publishes his column every Saturday. The countryside has always been for him a discovery, not an environment to be taken for granted, which may be why he cherishes it so much, but he does not lecture us about conservation or allied topics. This is in fact a personalised account of a twelvemonth cycle, almost a "nature diary" in the Gilbert White tradition but less prim and discursive, and also more lyrical. Viney's own black-and-white drawings add an extra dimension to the book's appeal; and he is helped by a exceptional level of book production as paperbacks go.
B.F.
