Wide-ranging and thoroughly entertaining

Devastaingly good...Every chapter bursts with clear logic, style, wit and imagination.

A real-life whodunnit.

A truly gripping story.

Simply wonderful…the natural history book I have been waiting for

A mix of memoir, science writing and humn to nature, this will propel Kerridge into the pantheon of great 21st-century nature writers. He tells the story of his fascination with reptiles and explains what it is to be cold blooded.

[A] perceptive memoir...Cold Blood is proof that an early infatuation with the natural world can lead to a lifetime of wonder

Perceptive and original... Kerridge writes vividly of the natural world

As a memoir, Cold Blood has the feel of a minor classic. It is exquisite. As a piece of nature writing, it is also rich, subtle and shot through with quiet passion

[A] perceptive memoir... Cold Blood is proof that an early infatuation with the natural world can lead to a lifetime of wonder

Perceptive and original...Kerridge writes vividly of the natural world (5 stars)

Captured moments such as the golden flash of a palmate newt delight the reader as much as they did Kerridge’s childhood self

You don't have to know or care much about amphibians to enjoy this book, although it might well kindle such an interest – for amphibians read: whatever was your childhood passion

Engaging blench of natural history handbook and memoir

The quality of the writing is superb – evocative, moving, informative

Everyone is seasoning serious non-fiction with autobiographical fragments these days, but it’s rare to find both elements handled equally well

This is a funny, moving and compulsively readable account of the author’s boyhood obsession with these often neglected creatures

As natural history it’s unerringly engaging…; as the story of a tragically damaged father-son relationship it is unforgettable

A triumph

Part natural history, part coming-of-age memoir, this is a delightful book

As a memoir, Cold Blood has the feel of a minor classic. It is exquisite. As a piece of nature writing, it is also rich, subtle and shot through with quiet passion. It is also a book smoky with regret’

This potent book constantly switches focus from reptiles and amphibians to the author’s relationships with friends and family. It’s a tricky act to pull off but Kerridge deftly braids the two strands

An intelligent, interesting and well-written book which anyone with an interest in nature will enjoy, even people who live on an island with an extremely impoverished reptile and amphibian fauna

This is a lively account of a life spent observing the world of nonhuman reptiles and amphibians

This is a fine memoir of natural discover combined with a boy’s coming-of-age that is funny, touching and poignant in equal parts

Captured moments such as the golden flash of a palmate newt delight the reader as much as they did Kerridge's childhood self

After reading this book, I know that I shall never again pass a pond or through a stretch of sun-drenched heathland without looking for the creatures that haunt Kerridge's imagination

Cold Blood casts an unexpected but beautiful love-light across ordinary England, and its uncaring reptiles and amphibians

Magisterial.

Birds and People by Mark Cocker and David Tipling is almost too wonderful a book to give away.

Mark Cocker’s Birds and People, is 535 pages of text and David Tipling’s luminous photographs: a true magnum opus, revealing the whole ghastly story of man’s long exploitation of our feathered friends.

A remarkable work, taking in every family of birds on earth and the way humans have interacted them.

Well laid out and designed and fluidly written, the book seems the best yet on its complex subject.

The intricate research of Mark Cocker and the award-winning photography of David Tipling make this incredible feat of research one of the year’s finest examples of outdoor literature. Humanity’s bond with these feathered beasts is explored with such depth that it boggles the mind as to how the author pulled this overwhelming project together with such success.

The bird book I never knew I needed until I had it. Far from a reference book, it is full of stories – mythology, folklore, personal tales – and that is what makes it so beguiling.

Mark Cocker has done it again.

Authoritative yet readable… The definitive book on the subject.

Stunning.

A sumptuous book full of beautiful photos… It gives you hope that birds will be conserved.