A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations -- Tristan Gooley, author of HOW TO READ A TREE Magnificent [...] One Midsummer's Day situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species [...] a beautifully poised book" A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations" The winner of the 2022 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, Shunta Morimoto, will dazzle us with a solo recital of Mozart, Brahms and Rameau. A beautiful, brilliant, mind-stretching and soul-flying book. Genius Horatio Clare, author of A Single Swallow

Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary... A jewel of a book Caroline Lucas MP An outright classic of his genre... If you thrill to the swifts' arrival (and mourn their annual too-soon departure), this book will enchant as they do... A nature classic for the new century Jim Perrin, author of Snowdon What is even more amazing than what we learn about swifts is how little we know about them, still. Until 1943, when hunters in a Peruvian rainforest flushed out 13 ringed birds from a hollow tree, observers north and south of the equator had no idea where swifts went for half of the year, and we’re still not much the wiser. The birds’ scientific name, Apus apus, comes from a Greek root word meaning “footless” because of an ancient belief that they never landed; in the 17th century, British swift watchers thought they flew to the moon in winter. Now, thanks to a recent Swedish study, we know that in the non-breeding season, many birds spend 99% of their time flying, eating and sleeping on the wing, and some never land at all. Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops Many swifts spend 99% of their time flying, eating and sleeping on the wing, and some never land at allBesides leading one of the top museums in the world, Tristram Hunt is an accomplished historian with several acclaimed books under his belt. At the Festival, he will talk about The Radical Potter, his biography about Josiah Wedgwood who, on top of creating the iconic blue and white jasperware bearing his name, was a pioneering forerunner of manufacturing efficiencies that permanently shaped Britain’s industrial development. Tristram will also talk about what lies ahead for the V&A and what it’s like to captain the world’s most international museum brand.

Luke Harding, the Guardian’s front-line correspondent covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will share some of the experiences and impressions captured in his new book, Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival, in addition to giving us an update on the conflict. As both the Moscow bureau chief of the newspaper and someone who has found himself directly in the cross-hairs of Putin, Luke is uniquely well positioned to analyse and report on the war. A passionately written study of these mysterious creatures of air, fascinating and constantly thought-provoking -- Ann Wroe, author of SIX FACETS OF LIGHT A passionately written study of these mysterious "creatures of air", fascinating and constantly thought-provoking" His grandest effort yet. Told as a series of reflections that fly through his mind in the course of a single day watching swifts from his garden in Norfolk, he ranges across topics as widely as a swift ranges across the sky... Magnificent Financial Times

Retailers:

The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of the Guardian's Country Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts Magnificent ... One Midsummer's Day situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species... a beautifully poised book -- Charles Foster, author of BEING A BEAST A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling -- Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of ACROSS A WAKING LAND It's not often I am moved to tears. I wish you could reprint the last chapter of One Midsummer's Day as a free-standing essay and give it out to every schoolchild in the country Kathleen Jamie, author of The Tree House