‘Captivating, uplifting and heartfelt’ Heat Magazine‘A wonderful ray of reading sunshine’Heidi Swain‘What a beautiful, heartwarming story... the perfect book to lose yourself in’ Zara Stoneley

The butterflies of Britain, in the words of one of their greatest championsMatthew Oates has led a butterflying life. Naturalist, conservationist and passionate lover of poetry, he has devoted himself to these exalted creatures: to their observation, to singing their praises, and to ensuring their survival. Based on fifty years of detailed diaries, In Pursuit of Butterflies is the chronicle of this life. Oates leads the reader through a lifetime of butterflying, across the mountain tops, the peat bogs, sea cliffs, meadows, heaths, the chalk downs and great forests of the British Isles. Full of humour, zeal, digression, expertise and anecdote, this book provides a profound encounter with one of our great butterfly lovers, and with a half-century of butterflies in Britain.

Gone is a fascinating and timely illustrated narrative exploring the lively tales of eleven extraordinary extinct species from around the globe––sharing an enlightening story of extinction and conservation for today.

A comprehensive and fully illustrated guide, this book is the definitive photographic reference guide for anyone interested in butterflies and moths found in Britain and Ireland.