Richard Mabey
Author of Food for Free
About the Author
Richard Mabey is one of Great Britain's foremost nature writers and editors. Mabey has written "The New Age Herbalist: How to Use Herbs for Healing, Nutrition, Body Care, and Relaxation," "In the Oxford Book of Nature Writing," which won the Whitbread Biography Award, and the BBC's television show more series, "Postcards from the Country." (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Eamonn McCabe
Series
Works by Richard Mabey
Weeds: How vagabond plants gatecrashed civilisation and changed the way we think about nature (2010) 365 copies, 10 reviews
The New Age Herbalist: How to Use Herbs for Healing, Nutrition, Body Care, and Relaxation (1988) 325 copies
The Cabaret of Plants: Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination (2015) 287 copies, 6 reviews
Dreams of the Good Life: The Life of Flora Thompson and the Creation of Lark Rise to Candleford (2014) 18 copies
Wild Cooking: Recipes, Tips and Other Improvisations in the Kitchen. Richard Mabey with Polly Munro (2004) 8 copies
The Pollution Handbook: The Advisory Centre For Education/Sunday Times Clean Air And Water Surveys (Extensions) (1974) 3 copies
The Flowers of May 1 copy
Cabaret of Plants, The 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Mabey, Richard Thomas
- Birthdate
- 1941-02-20
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Places of residence
- Chilterns, England
Waveney Valley, Norfolk, England
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, UK - Education
- Rothesay School, Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted Preparatory School
Berkhamsted School
Oxford University (St Catherine's College|Philosophy Politics and Economics) - Occupations
- naturalist
writer
broadcaster - Relationships
- Deakin, Roger (friend)
Blythe, Ronald (friend) - Organizations
- BBC Wildlife Magazine (columnist)
Independent (contributor)
Guardian (contributor)
The Times (contributor)
Country Living (contributor)
Countryman (contributor) (show all 11)
Nature Conservancy Council (council member)
Botanical Society of the British Isles (council member)
Common Ground (director)
Plant-life (board member)
Cambridge University (visiting professor) - Awards and honors
- Leverhulme Research Fellowship (for work on Flora Britannica)
Civil List Pension (for services to literature|2008)
Royal Society of Literature (fellow|2011)
Members
Discussions
Nightingales: The Barley Bird by Richard Mabey in Birds, Birding & Books (September 2010)
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 65
- Also by
- 13
- Members
- 3,081
- Popularity
- #8,286
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 47
- ISBNs
- 171
- Languages
- 11
- Favorited
- 4
The main thing that anyone needs to know is that human acts create weeds. Disturbed lands, especially those that have had their existing ecology disturbed as well as the earth itself, are the most inviting for both native opportunists and non-native invaders. And our efforts to eradicate them simply encourage them to find ways to survive... for example low-lying dandelions in lawns. It's an arms race, just like the one between bacteria and antibiotics.
I do want to read at least some of [b:Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery|15412877|Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery|John Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416750277s/15412877.jpg|21069086] by [a:John Clare|160110|John Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1283120511p2/160110.jpg].
Darwin reportedly joked to Asa Gray about the pervasiveness of British weeds in N. America, and the scarcity of Amer. weeds in England, "Does it not hurt your Yankee pride that we thrash you so confoundedly?" Gray's wife responded that American weeds were "modest, woodland, retiring things; and no match for the intrusive, pretentious, self-asserting foreigners." Mabey says this is "both witty and scientifically spot-on."
And here's all that we get to answer the question that I thought would be the central premise of the book: "And weeds are the very stuff of life for insects. Brimstone butterflies gather nectar from early buttercups. The caterpillars of small tortoiseshell, peacock, and red admiral feed on nettle leaves. And to the question, 'What are weeds for?' one answer might be, 'Moths.'" He goes on to list many species that feed on dock. And that's about it.
Not a bad book, but not recommended.… (more)