"A lovely progress through and around the naturalist's famous diary. White can make the arrival of some semi-obscure bird or the hibernation habits of his tortoise into enthralling and weighty matters." —Julian Barnes, The New Statesman

"Charming . . . What makes this book so joyful is Gilbert’s wonder at the natural world. A Year with Gilbert White is gorgeously illustrated and strangely comforting in its seasonal rhythm of daily entries—it is like Radio 4’s shipping forecast for naturalists." —Andrea Wulf, Financial Times

"A wonderfully fresh perspective on a fascinating man, place and time.” —Tristan Gooley

"A delightful new angle on our first great nature writer, packed with anecdotes and insights." —Stephen Moss

"The author brings her subject endearingly alive . . . [An] enriching book." —Gareth Thompson, Nature

"A fascinating mosaic of biography, ornithology, ethnology, horticulture and weather . . . Tenderness, along with humour and generosity, predominates here . . . A Year with Gilbert White glows with the combined enthusiasm of two brilliant natural historians recording the minutiae of the world around them: the budding of wild flowers, the arrival of migrating birds, the sex lives of snails. A feast of a book, it is beautifully illustrated and compulsively readable." —Norma Clarke, Literary Journal

"Uglow creates a captivating picture of the man, his milieu and his age." —The Economist

"Our present glut of lavish, emotionally attuned nature writing owes a debt to Gilbert White, an 18th-century curate who documented his Hampshire garden in his nature journals, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. Jenny Uglow revisits 12 months of his entries as he records, with awe, sightings of 'sweet weather,' 'fleecy clouds' and the northern lights 'flaming red and vast in the night sky.' Uglow neatly draws a line from White to the present, demonstrating his profound impact on nature writing, what of the natural world has been lost to the climate crisis, and the wonder of how much beauty still remains." —The Observer’s Books of the Year 2025

"A glorious celebration of curiosity and nature." —Philip Hoare, The Observer

"A Year with Gilbert White: The First Great Nature Writer, Jenny Uglow expands upon White’s diary entries for 1781, brilliantly bringing the modest Hampshire curate to life." —Jonathan Self, Country Life "The Best Books of the Year"

"So warm and humane, I want to live inside it forever." —Melissa Harrison (via Instagram)

"A loving contemplation of White’s world, a portrait of what we have lost or nearly lost since then – and a timely reminder of a trailblazer’s enduring legacy." —Irish Times

"Uglow controls the story with perfect command." —Nicola Shulman, The Times Literary Supplement

"An absolute joy . . . [Uglow] writes about [White] with a fondness you would typically find only with friendship." —Gardens Illustrated

"This is not a biography of the great nature writer who wrote the classic book The Natural History of Selborne in 1789, but more as if we have been invited to take a sojourn with him, a sort of naturalistic history gap year. Uglow is our guide, using White’s journals to reconstruct the year 1781. A loving and somewhat quirky endeavour.’ —Ann Treneman, The Times (UK)

"In A Year with Gilbert White, Jenny Uglow traces the pioneer naturalist’s life through 1781 and re-animates the man, his beloved Hampshire countryside and his age." —Boyd Tonkin, The Spectator, Books of the Year

"A joyful, comforting book that both celebrates the man and all the tiny daily miracles of the natural world." —Financial Times, Best Books of 2025

"A joy to read." —The Bookseller