Books

"Nature is, and always has been, Oliver Holt's inspiration, but, in a pressured world, it is his unique ablility to stand back from his subject and to distil the essence of experiences learned in youth, relearned in a changing world, and relived in maturity, which makes this a very special book.

His delight in birds, from the goldcrest and the pied wagtail to the exotic golden oriole, and in wild flowers and butterflies, such as cyclamen, the wood argus and the family of blues, is revealed through a filigree of history, from the Franco-Prussian War of 1866 to the aftermath of Hitler's assualt on Europe.

It is not only Oliver Holt's contemporaries (he is now in his eighties) but also readers one and two generations his junior who will quicken to the special thrill of experiences shared across time. His subject matter is timeless, but the mood is nostalgic. The drawings are superb, showing a visual accuracy as sensitive as his use of words, and the result is one of the most delightful books of the 1990s."

Hardback