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  • Life Between the Tides

  • In Search of Rockpools and Other Adventures Along the Shore
  • Written by: Adam Nicolson
  • Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
  • Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

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Life Between the Tides

Written by: Adam Nicolson
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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Publisher's Summary

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2022

Few places are as familiar as the shore—and few as full of mystery and surprise.  

How do sandhoppers inherit an inbuilt compass from their parents? How do crabs understand the tides? How can the death of one winkle guarantee the lives of its companions? What does a prawn know?

In The Sea Is Not Made of Water, Adam Nicolson explores the natural wonders of the intertidal and our long human relationship with it. The physics of the seas, the biology of anemone and limpet, the long history of the Earth, and the stories we tell of those who have lived here: all interconnect in this zone where the philosopher, scientist and poet can meet and find meaning.

In this blend of fascinating, surprising ecology and luminous human history, Adam Nicolson gives an invitation to the shoreline. Anyone who chooses can look beyond their own reflection and find the marvellous there, waiting an inch beneath their nose.

©2021 Adam Nicolson (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

What the critics say

"Another work of staggering genius by our greatest man of letters." (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)

"A remarkable and powerful book, the rarest of things...Nicolson is unique as a writer.... I loved it." (Edmund De Waal)

"Miraculous.... An utterly fascinating glimpse of a watery world we only thought we knew." (Philip Hoare)

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  • tufani
  • 2023-01-05

Chaotic

It felt like the author couldn't decide what this book was supposed to be. So chaotic (and not in a good way).

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