The Year

A lyrical, poetic chronicle of nature's annual cycle, blending ancient wisdom with modern science.

The Year takes us on a journey into how nature transforms across twelve months, each chapter focusing on a specific month's natural events, from spring's beginning through winter's end. It opens with an overview of our evolving understanding of time and nature, from ancient astronomy to the present, and concludes with a chapter on the impact of climate change. Spike Bucklow draws on both modern ecological studies and historical naturalists such as Aristotle, Gilbert White, Thoreau, and Aldo Leopold. Poetic reflections from Ovid, Shakespeare, John Clare, and William Wordsworth enrich the narrative, offering further insights into nature's changes. Blending modern science with traditional wisdom, The Year provides a positive perspective on ecological, global, and personal change, appealing to those interested in ecology, astrology, and the history of science.

'The Year is a contemplative almanac charting nature and culture through the zodiac, with a powerful message for our time of grave disjuncture between the two.' Ferdinand Saumarez Smith, author of Eleusis and Enlightenment

'A wonderful book that invites you to read its words in ebbs and ows: a historical-cultural-aesthetic-poetic almanac to carry in your pocket, its sentences in your head.' Julian Yates, H. Fletcher Brown Professor of English, University of Delaware