LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RICHARD JEFFERIES AWARD
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023

Footprints in the Woods is John Lister-Kaye's charming account of a year spent with otters, badgers, weasels and pine martens. This family - Mustelidae - all live in the wild at Aigas, the conservation and field study centre in the Highlands that he calls home.

With fifty years of experience living side-by-side with these creatures and the patience of a true naturalist, John reveals the lives of these elusive animals; sometimes red in tooth and claw, but often playful, familial, curious and surprising.

"Sir John Lister-Kaye's latest book reveals the real, bloody world of nature's natural-born killers. [ . . . ] In the course of more than 50 years, he has become one of Britain's most celebrated nature writers and an expert on conservation" - * The Times *

"John Lister-Kaye's mesmerising new book reveals the true savagery of mustelids . . . bears both the unsentimentality of a lifelong naturalist and the eloquent punch of a superior thriller-writer" - * Telegraph *

"Spellbinding . . . Footprints In The Woods is a wonderfully beguiling read. Second to none, it does what all great nature writing should do: it makes you want to get out there yourself" - * Mail on Sunday *

"Sir John Lister-Kaye, a leading naturalist and conservationist, has a fine eye for detail and a poetic turn of phrase. [ . . . ] Mesmerising" - * Simple Things *

"A love letter to the otters, badgers, weasels and pine martens . . . and a reminder of the fragility of habitat and the beauty and variety we have to lose if we don't choose to actively protect it" - * Yorkshire Reporter *

"Praise for John Lister Kaye: Utterly charming and captivating" - * Sunday Times *

"Scotland's high priest of nature writing; it's charming and moving to wander along with him" - * The Times *