From the acclaimed, bestselling author of the Bad Birdwatcher trilogy, comes an enchanting celebration of the transformative power of spring

'A book that filled me from first to last with a rapture as transcendent and thrilling as that which spring yearly provides ... I absolutely adored it!' STEPHEN FRY

'As dynamic and ebullient as the season it celebrates ... There is no one I'd rather spring into spring with than Simon Barnes' KATE HUMBLE

'An endlessly illuminating love letter to the most beguiling of the seasons' LEE SCHOFIELD, author of the award-winning Wild Fell

Spring is the time of renewal. As the year turns, animals and plants that have struggled through winter are filled with fresh promise and create the next generation. Months of cold and dark at last give way to light, life and hope.

In Spring is the Only Season, Simon Barnes joyfully guides us through the many wonders of spring – from mythology, religion and sport to wildlife, music and poetry. He unravels the science behind the seasons and shows us all of the ways spring shapes the way we live and understand the world, as well as how our impact on the planet is beginning to destroy the natural course of the seasons.

Brimming with remarkable facts and fascinating insights, this is a vivid and multi-faceted celebration of a much-loved season.

"Ultimately, this vivid portrait encourages us to contemplate the ever-shifting interplay between humanity and the natural world" - Countryside

"[Barnes] writes conversationally, but with passion, about the “only” season as his title has it. It’s a book that’s grand in scale — it opens 4.6 billion years ago, with the formation of the earth — and furious in energy. With Barnes as a guide we rocket across the canvas, from butterflies and moths to Salvador Dalí’s surrealist The First Days of Spring, via TS Eliot, mythology and Ramadan. This frenetic approach pays dividends" - London Standard

"In his paean to the season, Barnes looks at spring not just from the perspective of animals and of insects but of religions, artists and sports too … even as he explains the science of spring, breezily and lucidly, Barnes can’t suppress the enthusiasm and wonder in his tone" - New Statesman

"Simon Barnes is another "Springophile", but offers a much more detailed examination of why these few weeks are so important both to him and to all of us who live in temperate latitudes… The default note in this book may well be joy, but an all-inclusive approach allows him to ask whether "spring is being destroyed as we watch"" - Country Life

"In Spring is the Only Season, Simon Barnes provides an illuminating look at this period of the year as he tries to understand “what spring has always been, how it has shaped us and what it will become in a changing world"" - Geographical

"Packed with fascinating insights, remarkable facts and key stories, the book is a vivid and multi-faceted portrait of spring" - Manx Independent

"Fascinating… The sections on birds, butterflies and bees brim with extraordinary observations and facts…but his explorations of art and science are equally thought-provoking" - Tablet

"A wonderfully entertaining discussion of the influence that plants and creatures of all stripes have had on art, literature, mythology and music for centuries … A real treasure of a book" - Irish Times

"Barnes walks the reader jovially through the high spots of the season, arranged by theme: botanical spring, religious festivals, spring in literature, sporting events and so on" - TLS