Swifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds with migrations that span national borders and continents. They may nest in our homes, but much of their lives pass over our heads. No creature is more wreathed in mystery. One Midsummer’s Day is about much more than one bird. Swifts serve as a prism through which Mark Cocker celebrates the deep interconnections that span the entire biosphere. From the deep-sea thermal vents where life began, to the 15 million degrees at the core of our Sun, he shows that life is a singular, glorious continuum.

The book has been shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Prize and was described by Horatio Clare as a ‘beautiful, brilliant, mind-stretching and soul-flying book. Genius’.

Watch here: One Midsummer’s Day: Swifts & the Story of Life on Earth