In the last year of the old millennium, Richard Mabey, Britain's foremost nature writer, fell into a severe depression. The natural world which since childhood had been a source of joy and inspiration for him became meaningless.

Then, cared for by friends, he moved to East Anglia and he started to write again. Having left the cosseting woods of the Chiltern hills for the open flatlands of Norfolk, Richard Mabey found exhilaration in discovering a whole new landscape and gained fresh insights into our place in nature.

Structured as intricately as a novel, a joy to read, truthful, exquisite and questing,Nature Cureis a book of hope, not just for individuals, but for our species.

Richard Mabey is a prize-winning writer and botanist, described byThe Timesas 'Britain's greatest living nature writer'. Brought up in the Chilterns, he now lives in Norfolk where he and his partner, Polly, have created from scratch a vegetable garden, a Mediterranean garden, a pond garden and a wild garden with fields and hedgerows.

Highly praised for his poetic style and his challenging ideas, he is the author of FOOD FOR FREE, THE UNOFFICIAL COUNTRYSIDE, THE COMMON GROUND, FLORA BRITANNICA, NATURE CURE and, most recently, BEECHCOMBINGS.