'This book deserves a place in your bookcase next to Harari's Sapiens. It's every bit as fascinating and is surely destined to be just as successful' Julian Norton

From the plains of ancient Mesopotamia to the vast sheep farms of modern-day Australia, sheep have been central to the human story. Since our our Neolithic ancestors' first forays into sheep-rearing nearly 11,000 years ago, these remarkable animals have fed us, clothed us, changed our diet and language and financed the conquest of large swathes of the earth.

Sally Coulthard weaves this fascinating story into a vivid and colourful tapestry of engaging anecdotes and extraordinary ovine facts, whose multiple strands celebrate just how pivotal these woolly animals are to almost every aspect of human society and culture.

'A snappy, stimulating book, and certainly not just for shepherds' Mail on Sunday

'Full of fascinating social history' Independent

'You won't look at a sheep in the same way again' Country Living

In this beautifully illustrated guide, best-selling author Sally Coulthard demonstrates how to transform your living and working spaces into places that put you in touch with nature.

Eight inspiring chapters cover key elements for the 'biophilic home', including materials, views, colour and natural light. Each section explores the links between home, health and happiness, drawing on environmental research and neuroscience while making practical suggestions for bringing the natural world into your home.

Bring nature indoors with flowers and plants, rediscover the innate pleasure of real fires and fresh air, and learn how to improve your mood and sleep patterns with dynamic light. Create a space filled with natural elements, patterns, nature's colours, fabrics and textures that lift your mood; find out why natural sounds and water are soothing; and learn how to make small changes that will inspire, invigorate and enrich your relationship with the natural world.

'As best-selling author and designer, Sally Coulthard, reveals in this guide, creating a 'biophilic home' can have a huge impact on your wellbeing; improving your mood and encouraging healthier sleep patterns...Be it plants, materials, colour or light, it's enlightening to see how small changes can make a big difference, while deepening your respect and correlation to the natural world.' FORBES Magazine

'How to embrace the natural world by transforming your interior spaces with specific materials, colours, views and sounds.' Gardens Illustrated

'Humans are mammals, programmed over millennia to respond to the natural world. We may be able to live and work in man-made environments most of the time. But according to a new movement of "biophilic" designers and enthusiasts, we are not thriving...writer Sally Coulthard likens it to the practice of keeping animals in captivity, in surroundings ill-suited to their needs. "We live in a world that is fundamentally mismatched to our evolutionary adaptation - we don't see, hear and feel the things that we are programmed to respond to," she writes.' Financial Times

From dinosaur to dinner plate, Sally Coulthard tells the fascinating – and sometimes shocking – story of the domestic chicken.

Earth is home to 23 billion chickens, at least ten times more than any other bird. For every human on the planet, there are three chickens. Despite being capable of flying only a few metres, this most adaptable animal has somehow managed to conquer the world.

In Fowl Play, Sally Coulthard probes every aspect of the genus Gallus: the evolution and domestication of the chicken; its social behaviour and array of physically striking varieties, from Rhode Island Reds to Belgian d'Uccles and from Buff Orpingtons to White Leghorns; its importance in ancient Egyptian religion, Roman augury and Christian theology; its role as egg-providing companion on farms and smallholdings and in suburban back gardens; and the darker reality of modern poultry farming and society's insatiable appetite for chicken breasts, wings and nuggets. This is a story of evolutionary change, epic global travel, and exploitation, as well as biophilia, companionship and human ingenuity.

Ohne Wurm, kein Leben – warum wir Regenwürmer schätzen sollte – eine Hommage an das am meisten unterschätzte Tier der Erde

 
Im Garten begegnen sie einem täglich, doch die meisten von uns wissen nur sehr wenig über Regenwürmer. Dabei würden wir ohne sie nicht überleben. Unsere Felder und Böden würden unfruchtbar. Durch ihr unermüdliches Wühlen lockern und belüften sie die Erde und helfen dem Regen zu versickern, sie kompostieren Laub und produzieren so den besten Dünger: Wurmhumus. Allein 47 Regenwurmarten gibt es in Deutschland, viele davon sind gefährdet. Zeit, ihnen endlich mehr Aufmerksamkeit zu schenken: Wie sie leben, lieben und uns nutzen. Kurzweilig und faktenreich bringt uns Sally Coulthard die kleinen Helden unserer Erde näher.

Das perfekte Geschenk für alle Hobbygärtner und Naturliebhaber

»Großes Wissen über "winzige Helden" und darüber, warum wir sie brauchen.« Galore

»Ein Buch für alle, die sich für die Natur in ihren erstaunlichen Erscheinungsformen begeistern können.« Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Few of us know what goes on after dark, underneath the moon. Sally Coulthard shines a light on the Barn Owl, one of the most mesmerising and elusive icons of the countryside.

With its heart-shaped face and silent, graceful flight, the Barn Owl regularly tops the nation's list of favourite birds. A brief sighting is a thrill, hovering along a hedgerow or sweeping over a stubble field, but how much do we really know about this sublime tenant of the night? We humans, ever the egocentrics, fancy we see ourselves in the Barn Owl's big, baby eyes and quizzical tilt of the head. But the Barn Owl lives on a different plane – a yearly see-saw of feast and famine, companionship and solitude. It's a tough life – living in the shadows – but the Barn Owl has made it this far.

Sally Coulthard explores the hidden world of the Barn Owl. Full of fascinating insights, conservation advice and the latest research, this affectionate and timely guide also tells the story of a Barn Owl's early life – from first pip of the shell to leaving the nest – a fascinating time in this captivating creature's journey.

A revelatory uncovering of a vanished agricultural way of life by bestselling nature writer Sally Coulthard.

'A gem of a book' Country Smallholding

'Engaging and filled with the gentle humour and fascinating facts' Get History

'Shows us the beauty and rich history of everyday things' Country Walking Magazine

Across the muddy foldyard from Sally Coulthard's farmhouse stands a large and ancient stone barn. When she discovered a set of witches' marks on one of its internal walls, scratched into the plaster to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck, Sally began to wonder about the lives of the people who had lived and worked around the Barn in times past; the forgotten inhabitants of a North Yorkshire agricultural landscape.

In The Barn, Sally explores a hidden corner of rural Britain that has witnessed remarkable changes. From the eighteenth-century Enclosures to the era of the Second World War, the fortunes of the Barn, the farm and its occupants have been blown, like a leaf in a gale, by the unstoppable forces of new agriculture and industry. Seismic shifts in almost every area of society – education, technology, food and farming, transport, superstition and the Church – all were played out here in miniature against a backdrop of scattered limestone villages and the softly rolling Howardian Hills.

Both intimate history of a family, a house and its hinterland, and wider investigation of shifting patterns of work, leisure and domestic life across two-and-a half centuries of English history, The Barn is an affectionate celebration of the enduring charm of rural North Yorkshire and a revelatory investigation of a lost agricultural way of life.

Flowers can talk. Red roses say ‘I love you’, white lilies offer condolence and poppies invite us to remember.

For thousands of years, humans have used flowers as a language, a short-hand for emotions and meanings. In her new book, Sally Coulthard, takes a fascinating look at floriography and shows how we still use this secret language across the world. She delves into the meanings of flowers and where they came from, whether it’s ancient mythology or hedgerow folklore.

Covering 50 well-loved flowers and plants, from peonies to sweetpeas, ivy to irises, Floriography is a beautifully illustrated guide that will take the reader on an intriguing journey through the history, legend, anthropology and literature of flowers, showing how modern-day society still relies on the meaning of flowers. From the Chinese lotus flower to the Celtic bluebell, the myth, magic and language of flowers is still blossoming today.

'I thought I knew quite a bit about earthworms – until I picked up this charming little book' Nick Baker

'Many wonderful wormy tales unearthed by Coulthard' BBC Countryfile Magazine

'A gem of a book' Country Smallholding

Without these little engineers of the earth, the world's soils would be barren, and our gardens and fields wouldn't be able to grow the food we need to survive. Worms recycle decaying plants, putting nutrients back into the soil; they provide a food source for wildlife; and their constant burrowing helps heavy rain soak away. Sally Coulthard's fascianting guide offers a wealth of information and practical advice about the world's msot industrious but little understood creature.

'A beautiful gift... Full of fascinating facts' Yorkshire Post

'We all want to help the beleaguered bee and Sally Coulthard's latest book is a great place to start' Amateur Gardening

'How to help bees thrive and give your garden a real buzz' You Magazine

We need bees. These tiny, hardworking insects have transformed our lives with their quiet diligence; fertilizing the wild plants we rely on, and giving us thousands of years of sugary pleasure. But bees are in danger; across the planet, their numbers are plummeting.

Sally Coulthard is here to share fifty ways we can all save bees. Whether you garden for bees, campaign for bees, or just learn a bit of bee-whispering, little things can make a big difference. Just ask a bee.

Crafted is a celebration of craft in the 21st century – a definitive visual guide to all things handmade.

Featuring over 73 of the most popular and well-established crafts, Sally Coulthard explores their history, materials and techniques as she offers a deeper insight into some of your favourite crafts and provides inspiration for both new and ancient creative pursuits.

After an introductory section covering the culture of craft (its definition, why it matters, history and community), the main body of the book consists of beautifully illustrated entries on 73 of the world's most established crafts. The scope is encyclopaedic and covers Paper, Pen & Print (bookbinding, origami, calligraphy, lino printing), Textiles, Cloth & Leather (fur & leather, embroidery, knitting, dyeing), Pottery, Glass & Stone (porcelain, stained glass, stone carving), Wood, Willow & Nature (basket weaving, wood carving, lime plastering and thatching) and Metal (gold, bronze, cast iron and steel).

A comprehensive directory of craft organisations and professional communities and guilds, completes this groundbreaking compendium.

A charming celebration of all things snow.

Is it true that no two snowflakes are ever alike? How many Christmases have actually been white? Do the Inuit have dozens of words for snow? Can it ever be too cold to snow?

Our memories and imagination are buried in snow. It's the weather of play, joyful abandon and mischievous games – of snowball fights, skiing holidays and rattling down a hillside at full speed. It's the weather of childhood – the world transformed into a temporary playground. Even as adults, the urge to throw a snowball is too hard to resist, those impish, childish instincts overtaking our adult workaday selves.

Packed with fascinating insights, outdoor fun, cultural lore and traditional wisdom, The Little Book of Snow delves into the history, science, literary and cultural heritage that surrounds snow, frost and ice – the perfect book for anyone who loves that feeling when you open the curtains in the morning and find the world has turned to white...

'Super-cute... Packed full of snowy snippets' Sunday Express