When Sylvain Tesson left the colourful yellow houses of the French Riviera for a ski trek across the Alps with his friend, a high-altitude mountain guide, he didn't know what exactly awaited him. The trek would turn into an extraordinary adventure.Over the course of four years they ascended high into the Alps in winter, following the curve of the mountains from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic, immersing themselves in a strange white world made entirely of snow. In the bitter cold...

"Hilarious, introspective, contemplative, professorial . . . the tale of a historical motorcycle tour quite unlike most any you will ever read." — Ultimate MotorcyclingLire Magazine Best Travel BookTake four friends, put them on two Ural motorcycles (complete with sidecars), send them off on a 2,500-mile odyssey retracing history's most famous retreat, add what some might consider an excessive amount of Vodka, and you've got...

In Consolations of the Forest, Sylvain Tesson explains how he found a radical solution to his need for freedom, one as ancient as the experiences of the hermits of old Russia: he decided to lock himself alone in a cabin in the middle taiga, on the shores of Baikal, for six months. From February to July 2010, he lived in silence, solitude, and cold. His cabin, built by Soviet geologists in the Brezhnev years, is a cube of logs three meters by three meters, heated by a cast iron ski...

Winner of the Prix Renaudot 2019A New York Times Best Book of 2021‘Extraordinarily beautiful… a long last loving glance at the planet.’ Carl Safina, author of Becoming WildThe snow leopard stalks the frozen expanse of the Tibetan plateau – 4,500 metres above sea level. Fierce, silent, near invisible, she is a perfectly adapted predator.Escaping Paris’s urban sprawl, the renowned French adve...

Lire Magazine Best Travel BookTake four friends, put them on two Ural motorcycles (complete with sidecars), send them off on a 2,500-mile odyssey retracing history’s most famous retreat, add what some might consider an excessive amount of Vodka, and you’ve got Sylvain Tesson’s Berezina, a riotous and erudite book that combines travel, history, comradery, and adventure.The retreat of Napoleon’s Grande Armée from Russia culminated, after a humiliating loss, with the ...

When Sylvain Tesson left the colorful yellow houses of the French Riveria for a ski trek across the Alps with his friend Daniel du Lac, a high-altitude mountain guide, he didn't know what exactly would await him. Over the course of four years, from 2018 to 2021, they ascended high into the Alps in winter, following the curve of the mountains from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic, entering into a white world entirely of snow, bitterly cold, and overlooked by an empty sky; only the effort o...

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZEThe original bestseller from the beloved author of UNDERLAND, LANDMARKS and THE LOST WORDS - Robert Macfarlane travels Britain's ancient paths and discovers the secrets of our beautiful, underappreciated landscape'The Old Ways confirms Macfarlane's reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature' Scotland on ...

'Chillingly original' Max Hastings**'Brilliantly depicts a disastrous failure' Antony Beevor'Witty and elegant . . . Excellent background to today's events' Anne Applebaum'Britain's most forgotten war, brilliantly remembered' Simon Jenkins'Vivid and remarkably timely' Martin SixsmithFrom the bestselling author of Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine**The extraordinary story of the West's inter...

A Times, Financial Times and Telegraph Political Book of the Year'Illuminates some of the great trends of our time' - Gideon Rachman, Financial Times'Vivid, urgent and unsettling' - Tom Holland, author of Dominion_____In a series of vivid, empathetic portraits of other people’s lives, journalist Ben Judah invites us to meet some of the people who call Europe their h...

AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF 2024'Masterful and entrancing - this is big history at its best.' Professor Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors'A real-life Indiana Jones takes readers on a dive through these underwater museums, revealing the sunken secrets of the past' The TimesFrom a Bronze Age ship built during the age of Queen Nefertiti and filled with ancient treasures, a Viking warship made ...

***WINNER OF THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATIONFINANCIAL TIMES* 2023 HIGHLIGHT'Helen Czerski weaves together physics and biology, history and science, in a beautifully poetic way.'Professor Alice Roberts'In Helen Czerski's hands, the mechanical becomes magical. An instant classic**.'Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read Water'Blue Machine is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read.'...

Learn how to read the clues and signs of trees with this eye-opening and enthralling guide from Sunday Times-bestselling author Tristan Gooley, pioneer in the art of natural navigation------Readers are LOVING How to Read a Tree:'I could write a book about this book. After the first five pages I knew my forest hiking was already permanently changed. After five more I began ordering copies for some fellow tree-loving friends' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐...