In a follow-up to the ‘spellbinding’ Nightwalking, John Lewis-Stempel ventures out into Britain’s wildest landscapes in search of a sky full of stars. At night the senses become reordered. Hearing becomes privileged over vision, and we edge forward arms outstretched, feeling our way through the inky blackness. It is after dark that the human being becomes more ‘animal’, more sensitive to Nature. But the lights of the modern world have obliterated any meaningful connection to the night. We have lost touch with its wonders as well as its terrors. In this enchanting follow-up to Nightwalking, John Lewis-Stempel once again ventures out into the night to uncover the unseen world of nocturnal creatures. When the curtain of night falls, a spectacle begins. That of bio-luminescence, of boxing hares, and wheat fields shimmering in the moonlight. In Night Life, Lewis-Stempel wanders further afield, to terrains new, and shows us why the night is precious, and what it is to be human in the dark.
