One Midsummer's Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth

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A rich and elegant exploration that takes us to unexpected places. With the swift as our lift, we leave the garden on an extraordinary tour that takes in the moon, amongst many other wonderful destinations Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree Drawing deeply on science, history, literature and a lifetime of close observation, One Midsummer's Day is a dazzling and wide-ranging celebration of all life on Earth by one of our greatest nature writers.

A wonderful book that weaves half a century of natural history expertise around a vanishing bird. Informative, personal, universal and thrilling" Brilliant, zany and unique are just a few of the adjectives that describe the genius of Milton Jones’ stand-up comedy — verbal absurdity delivered with unerring, deadpan timing. You will roll with laughter and never forget his outlandishly clever, cleverly outlandish show. An outright classic of his genre... If you thrill to the swifts' arrival (and mourn their annual too-soon departure), this book will enchant as they do... A nature classic for the new century Jim Perrin, author of Snowdon In this closing session of EA Festival 2023, festival founder Joanne Ooi posed 5 questions to legendary TV producer John Lloyd, leading to some ridiculous anecdotes and absurd pranks. The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of The Guardian's Counrtry Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts.The winner of the 2022 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, Shunta Morimoto, will dazzle us with a solo recital of Mozart, Brahms and Rameau.

Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary... A jewel of a book Caroline Lucas MP Many swifts spend 99% of their time flying, eating and sleeping on the wing, and some never land at all Luke Harding, the Guardian’s front-line correspondent covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will share some of the experiences and impressions captured in his new book, Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival, in addition to giving us an update on the conflict. As both the Moscow bureau chief of the newspaper and someone who has found himself directly in the cross-hairs of Putin, Luke is uniquely well positioned to analyse and report on the war. The bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of the Guardian's Country Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swiftsHis grandest effort yet. Told as a series of reflections that fly through his mind in the course of a single day watching swifts from his garden in Norfolk, he ranges across topics as widely as a swift ranges across the sky... Magnificent Financial Times Lyrical and startling by turn, he reveals the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary [...] A jewel of a book" A passionately written study of these mysterious "creatures of air", fascinating and constantly thought-provoking" Swifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds. Their migrations span continents and their twelve-week stopover, when they pause to breed in European rooftops, is the very definition of summer. They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads. No birds are more wreathed in mystery. Situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species... A beautifully poised book Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

Magnificent [...] One Midsummer's Day situates both swifts and humans in the universe in a way that I've not seen done for any species [...] a beautifully poised book" Sir Mark Prescott is literally a racing legend without peer. At the Festival, he will chat with John Lloyd about his love of animal sports, his biggest triumphs and disappointments, the secrets of his enduring success, his books and much much more. (To those of you know little or nothing about horse racing: If there’s one thing that Sir Mark does as well as training horses, it’s story-telling.)Besides leading one of the top museums in the world, Tristram Hunt is an accomplished historian with several acclaimed books under his belt. At the Festival, he will talk about The Radical Potter, his biography about Josiah Wedgwood who, on top of creating the iconic blue and white jasperware bearing his name, was a pioneering forerunner of manufacturing efficiencies that permanently shaped Britain’s industrial development. Tristram will also talk about what lies ahead for the V&A and what it’s like to captain the world’s most international museum brand.