The Nature of Summer

Seasons

by Jim Crumley

In the endless light of summer days, and the magical gloaming of the wee small hours, nature in Jim’s beloved Highlands, Perthshire and Trossachs heartlands is burgeoning freely, as though there is one long midsummer’s eve, nothing reserved.

For our flora and fauna, for the very land itself, this is the time of extravagant growth, flowering and the promise of fruit and the harvest to come. But despite the abundance, as Jim Crumley attests, summer in the Northlands is no Wordsworthian idyll. Climate chaos and its attendant unpredictable weather brings high drama to the lives of the animals and birds he observes.

There is also a wild, elemental beauty to the land, mountains, lochs, coasts and skies, a sense of nature at its very apex during this, the most beautiful and lush of seasons. Jim chronicles it all: the wonder, the tumult, the spectacle of summer.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Scotland, Summer Reads, Summer

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2020

About the author

Jim Crumley is a Scottish nature writer with almost 20 books to his name, mostly on the landscape and wildlife of Scotland. He is renowned for his style - passionate, inspiring, visionary, sensitive, majestic - no work of his should be missed. He is also a columnist and presenter of radio programmes.

He has also received the accolade of '...the best nature writer now working in Great Britain...' from David Craig in the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest of Jim Crumley's 'Nature of' season books. There is history, poetry, eagles, and lots of nature in this wonderful book. The author is passionate about the Scottish landscape, the flora, and the fauna. In his plea for saving our earth, our only home, he reminds us of what John Muir wrote: 'When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe'. I am sure I will read this book again.

[Bob Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ignore at your peril!

Jim's masterful writing highlighting the impending doom of climate change disaster while at the same time painting such beautiful word pictures of nature, the plants, animals and landscapes that surround us. Beautiful!

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5.

I really liked what the author has to say, but I wasn't so keen on the writing style. It took me a long time to read it, but it was worth the effort.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Crumley's writing is infectious! It is infectious with a genuine, heartfelt, raw love of nature and creatures of the Earth.

This book was lovely to read. I sensed a real feeling of privilege from Crumley that he is allowed to witness wildlife and nature in all its glory. He celebrates birds of prey, hares, swans, seals, seabirds, trees, rock, clouds. He is immersive and interactive in nature and implores us to be too.

He rightly vilifies the actions of grouse moorland owners who allow eagles to "miraculously disappear" and then turn up poisoned, shot or trapped, all to protect a bird that is bred purely for posh twats to shoot! He highlights the wrongs of the world and the damage we are doing to the climate and natural habitats such as the seas and coastlines. He urges us all to be interested and engaged in and with our surroundings, in order to save and preserve it before it is lost to us all forever.

Crumley's is a noble cause, campaigning for nature, and I am all for it. Tell them Jim.

[Mrs F S Petersen]

What beautiful.book. Observations and reminiscences of the natural world in summer. Loved the sea eagles and certainly agreed with him about bringing back wolves.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My reviews of the others in this series are just as appropriate to this, the last of the nature series books. Crumley is a great writer who makes everything interesting and enjoyable, but he does have a propensity to keep quoting his earlier works. I also take issue with the titles which should include an added ‘Of Scotland and Northern Europe’. However, I knew all this when I bought the book, and it doesn’t really distract from the enjoyment. The ‘political’ element to the book on climate change, is very well laid out and makes this reader despair of the supposedly ‘real’ politicians, of all parties.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m sad to have finished reading this one as it means the tetralogy is now finished. However it was a highly enjoyable read, with the author highlighting the perils of climate change whilst also writing so beautifully and vividly to create images and warmth in the reader’s mind at the same time. A fitting way to finish the series.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle meander through mostly Scottish nature in the summer months. My only criticism is that the author's language is a bit convoluted and matey but I mostly enjoyed reading it.

[Sarah Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fab read!