Author:Bill Bryson
Number One Bestseller in both hardback and paperback
The Sunday Times Book of the Year
The ideal gift for everybody
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'A directory of wonders.' Guardian
'Jaw-dropping.' The Times
'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson...an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.' The Sunday Times
'It is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts into an entertaining and nutritious book.' Daily Telegraph
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'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.'
Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts, astonishing stories and now fully illustrated for the first time, The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up.
A wonderful successor to A Short History of Nearly Everything, this new book is an instant classic. It will have you marvelling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again. The ideal gift for readers of every age who wish to discover more about themselves.
'What I learned is that we are infinitely more complex and wondrous, and often more mysterious, than I had ever suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.' Bill Bryson
'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson... richly interesting... an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book. If it sells hundreds of thousands of copies, like the last one, it will be no bad thing.'
—— Sunday TimesA directory of wonders. Extraordinary stories about the heart, lungs, genitals ... plus some anger and life advice - all delivered in the inimitable Bryson style
—— Gavin Francis , GuardianSCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019: 'so packed with arresting facts (you eat 60 tons of food in a lifetime) and unlikely anecdotes (such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel's six weeks with a half-sovereign lodged in his throat) that you barely notice the sheer volume of anatomical knowledge you're digesting ... makes complex subjects simple and eminently entertaining.'
—— The Sunday TimesBryson feeds the pith, pulp and bitter pips of a subject into his brain and produces a sweet, zingy quantity of juice - this book is a delight.
—— The SpectatorRemarkable ... Every page is dense with scientific facts written as vividly as a thriller, as well as answers to conundrums such as why we don't fall out of bed when we are asleep ... It is woven through with the kind of human stories that Bryson has made his trademark.
—— Mail on SundayReadable and useful ... witty, jargon-free prose that glides you through 400 pages. It's fun to read because it's not just comprehensive, but quirky.
—— Richard Morrison , The TimesIt is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts into an entertaining and nutritious book..where Byrson really shines is in his imaginative glosses on the facts he has collected.
—— Daily TelegraphThe extraordinary story of what we are made of and how we work ... This revelatory book reads as captivatingly as a thriller.
—— Teresa Levonian Cole , Country LifeBryson rummages about in our vital organs, emerging with a parade of fascinating facts.
—— Daily MirrorThere is not an organ Bryson describes that is not illuminated by a fun fact or unlikely anecdote.
—— Times 2Bryson tackles the body in an amusing, fact-filled guide
—— The Sunday Times (Ireland)Written with his trademark wit and insight
—— RTE GuideImpressive... the cumulative impact on my understanding of the [climate] crisis through its data, cross-cultural reflections, and paths for step-by-step change became mesmerizing
—— Barbara J. King , NPRThe Climate Book makes for sobering but compelling reading - the kind of book that, once you've finished, you cannot forget
—— ElleYou may think you are across environmental and climate change issues, but think again. This passionate, extraordinary book opens up a compelling and vital new dimension: food and the way the world farms
—— Will HuttonWith rigour, singular bravery and an infectious love for the living world, George Monbiot presents the Silent Spring of our time. Regenesis is an eye-watering reckoning of humanity's land and food crisis and an astonishing vision of survival and restoration. Monbiot takes us on a journey from the rhizospheres and the drilospheres through soil ecology, cultural myths, to the future of food all bound together with his own wonder-ful, beautifully-written observations. There is no topic more important for planetary survival than land and food, and there is no writer willing to dispense of bullshit, tell us the truth, and take on powerful forces and perceived wisdom like George Monbiot. A visionary, fearless, essential book
—— Lucy JonesMonbiot rolls up his sleeves and pulls on his boots for an uncompromising session of agricultural dragon-slaying and foodie myth-busting. Unafraid to propose a new world order for farming and food production that is kinder to both people and planet, Regenesis is rigorous and restive, but also witty, original and humane. Let us hope it is read, digested and acted on by people, politicians and policy-makers the world over
—— Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallI am so grateful George Monbiot has applied his razor sharp intellect, bountiful curiosity and love for the land to the complex and fundamental issue of what we eat. This book offers a deep dive into the most essential question of our time - how might we feed ourselves without destroying our planet in the process?
—— Lily ColeThis is an important book and a gripping read. It will enflame vested interests on all sides. Because Monbiot has that most aggravating of gifts - the ability lucidly to point out things that people desperately do not want to be true
—— Henry DimblebyHow can we ensure that everyone is fed without destroying the biosphere? Regenesis is a lively and deeply researched enquiry that confronts our dilemmas head on. There are no easy answers, but Monbiot provides a brilliant guide to asking the right questions. Transformation is urgently needed and this book shows how it is possible
—— Merlin SheldrakeGeorge Monbiot is a very skilful writer, and Regenesis shows all his powers at full stretch. He seems to see more fully than almost anyone else in this field, with a clarity of attention both to the smallest realities of a handful of soil and to the widest implications of the way human beings have lived and continue to live in the world. Telling things in the right order doesn't seem like one of the functions of the imagination, but again and again Monbiot shows that it is, with all the imaginative sympathy of a great storyteller as well as the overarching understanding of a moral visionary. This is a fine and necessary book
—— Philip PullmanGeorge Monbiot is one of the most fearless and important voices in the global climate movement today
—— Greta ThunbergI used to look up to the stars for thoughts of infinity, eternity and divine cooperation. This book revealed to me I could find the same inspiration beneath the soles of my feet in less than a foot of soil. My walks on earth will never be the same as they were. The writing, observation and devotion is infectiously compelling. The learning is deep and immense
—— Mark RylanceA magnificent new overview of how we might live and feed ourselves without destroying ourselves ... It is riveting ... Along with a dazzling array of stats, there's also impressive investigative reporting ... rich food for thought, devastating figures, startling insights and even the odd joke ... A hugely important read
—— Christopher Hart , The Sunday TimesA call to raze the pastoral imaginary so that we can begin to think clearly about how we produce food and steward the soil ... To have any chance of turning the age of extinction into an age of regeneration, systemic reform, based on the facts, not pastoral myth-making, is essential
—— Philippa Nuttall , New StatesmanColossally important... You've got to read it
—— Max Porter (via Twitter)A treasure trove of hope and solutions, and a vision for a sustainable, healthy, equitable world. We meet inspiring farmers as well as some radical solutions ... Comprehensive, devastating, rousing ... An essential book
—— Rowan Hooper , New ScientistBig ideas, beautifully written and the portraits of people building the alternatives are gorgeous! Makes you angry and enraptured with the beauty of the natural world all at once
—— Aaron Bastani (via Twitter)A paean to the wonder that is the ecology of soil, scientifically informed and beautifully told. The perfect bank holiday read
—— Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of OxfordPhenomenal. Clear, eloquent, fearless and devastating in its analysis. A revolution in the future of food
—— Adam Rutherford (via Twitter)Glorious ... intelligent, deeply researched .... The point Monbiot makes so ably and so necessarily is that system change is both essential and possible through a complexity of solutions ... The stakes could not be higher. If a book can change hearts and minds about one of the most critical issues of our time, this rational, humane polemic is it
—— Gaia Vince , ObserverRevolutionary ... Rigorous, bold and clear-sighted ... To conjure the miracle of more food with less farming, we need to rethink what lies beneath our feet
—— David Farrier , ProspectVivid and memorable... Regenesis is a compelling, deeply researched account of a deeply broken food system and how we might heal it
—— Irish TimesA compelling story of soil, food and farming
—— Financial TimesAmbitious and deeply researched ... Monbiot exposes, with journalistic flair, the 'gulf between perception and reality' about where and how our food is produced ... it includes some fascinating case studies ... bristling with ideas and imagination
—— Laura Battle , Financial TimesEye-opening, persuasive, meticulously researched [...] Monbiot thinks globally [... and] his arguments take account of the needs of everyone in society
—— Amy Liptrot , GuardianA paean to soil, told more gracefully and memorably than anyone before him... Regenesis is likely to become a classic. Monbiot is a writer of the first rank
—— Bill McKibben , Times Literary SupplementInspiring, courageous, and bursting with ideas
—— Jeremy Williams , The Earthbound Report