Butterfly Isles: A Summer in Search of Our Emperors and Admirals - Hardcover

Patrick Barkham

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847081274 ISBN 13: 9781847081278

Publisher: Granta Books (UK), 2010

Synopsis

Butterflies animate our summers but the 59 butterfly species of the British Isles can be surprisingly elusive. Some bask unseen at the top of trees in London parks; others lurk at the bottom of damp bogs in Scotland. A few survive for months while other ephemeral creatures only fly for three days. Several are virtually extinct. This bewitching book charts Patrick Barkham's quest to find all 59 - from the Adonis Blue to the Dingy Skipper - in one unforgettable summer. Barkham brings alive the extraordinary physical beauty and amusingly diverse character of our butterflies. He witnesses a swarming invasion of Painted Ladies, experiences the curse of the Purple Emperor, makes a euphoric sighting of an exceedingly rare migrant and as summer draws to a close, suffers from butterfly burnout. He meets some deeply knowledgeable and eccentric butterfly obsessives and reconnects with lovely, overlooked corners of our countryside. As he goes, he looks back at the butterfly collectors of the past

About this title

About the Author:

PATRICK BARKHAM was born in 1975 in Norfolk and was educated at Cambridge University. He is a features writer for the Guardian, where he has reported on everything from the Iraq War to climate change: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickbarkham He lives in London and Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk.

About this edition

• Publisher: Granta Books (UK)
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1847081274
• ISBN 13: 9781847081278
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 372