Four Acres : a Natural History of Taston

Although the sub-title of this book is 'A Natural History of Taston' - Taston is a small hamlet in the Cotswolds - it might perhaps be better sub-titled as a diary of wildlife observations, for this is how the material is presented. The detail comes from the whole, rather than from the individual 'diary' entries, and delivers an overview of the wildlife on this patch of four acres. There are some interesting observations in here - such as the entry for July 2nd 2008, where the author watches a mole at work, pushing up the turf through its subterranean activities - but it doesn't have the depth of enquiry that one gets from Gilbert White or the level of detail evident in Jennifer Owen's 30 year study 'Wildlife of a Garden.'

Book reviewed by Mike Toms