STOCKING THRILLERS
Richard Hopton selects his books of the year for 2022, ideal for Christmas giving
Greta Thunberg is a powerful advocate for action against climate change. Now she has produced The Climate Book (Allen Lane, £25), a collection of essays by scientists and campaigners setting out the full extent of the threat facing humanity. Essential reading.
PANDEMIC
Colin Heber-Percy is a priest in rural Wiltshire. Tales of a Country Parish (Short Books, £12.99) is a charming, humane and spiritual account of lockdown, of how this national trauma unfolded in one tranquil corner of the country.
HISTORY
GARDENING
In How I Garden (BBC Books, £22), Adam Frost sets out his horticultural creed, explaining how to get the most from your garden, whatever its size. It’s a practical guide that includes some recipes, too, so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labours.
Graham Robb’s The Discovery of France (Picador, £12.99) is a history of that country like no other. Robb delights in the obscure and revels in the eccentric as he cycles around the country immersing himself in its history. In The Restless Republic (William Collins, £25), Anna Keay paints a vivid picture of England in the 1650s under the Commonwealth. Taking the lives of nine very different people, she illuminates this unique decade in history.
FISHING
Fishing is one of the most popular sports in Britain; in Illuminated by Water (Doubleday, £16.99) Malachy Tallack explains its allure, hopes and frustrations. He also has much to say about the countryside, ecology, and the morality of fishing.
TRAVEL
Nicholas Allan’s When Dreams Collide (Nine Elms Books, £25) is an erudite, acutely observant account of the author’s quest to retrace Rebecca West’s Balkan journeys of the 1930s. In the process he illuminates the mysteries of this fascinating, beautiful, but troubled region where history hangs heavy.
PHOTOS: UNSPLASH
CLIMATE
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