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“Courageous, visionary, funny.”-Isabella Tree

“One of the most remarkable figures in British conservation.“-Observer

“Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside.”-Guardian

Birds, Beasts and Bedlam recounts the adventures of Britain’s favorite maverick rewilder, Derek Gow, and his single-minded mission to save our rarest wildlife-one species at a time.

Author of Bringing Back the Beaver and Hunt for the Shadow Wolf, Derek shares his personal, courageous, and highly entertaining tales in Birds, Beasts and Bedlam, including how he raised a sofa-loving wild boar piglet, transported a raging bison bull across the UK, got bitten by a Scottish wildcat, and, together with Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell, restored the ancient white stork to the pioneering Knepp Estate.

After a Shetland ewe captured his heart as a boy, Derek grew up to become a farmer with a passion for ancient breeds. When he realized how many of our species were close to extinction-even on his own land-Derek tore down fences literally and metaphorically, transforming his traditional Devon farm into a 300-acre rewilding haven for beavers, water voles, lynx, wildcats, harvest mice, wild boar, and more. A project that is still ongoing today.

Birds, Beasts and Bedlam continues the rich tradition of great British nature writing. Passionate, subversive, and unforgettable, it will leave you inspired to support rewilding efforts around the world, in your community, and even in your backyard.

“A do-er, not a dreamer, Gow has become one of our most outspoken rewilders.”-Countryfile Magazine

“In this warm and funny autobiography, [Gow] writes with a whimsical fluency about the moments of humour and pathos in an unusual life.”-Country Life

“Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.”―BBC Wildlife magazine

“[Gow’s] stories can be bawdy, laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, or even depressing, but they’re never dull.”―Booklist

‘Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside.’ Guardian

‘This authentic, impassioned manifesto-cum-memoir will hopefully have a major impact on what is likely to be a long-running controversy.’ The Spectator

‘Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.’ BBC Wildlife Magazine

A Waterstones Best Nature Writing Book of 2020

‘Bringing Back the Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of our ecosystems.’ George Monbiot

Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow’s inspirational and often riotously funny first-hand account of how the movement to rewild beavers into the British landscape became the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s – in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites and even some conservation professionals – Gow has imported, quarantined and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland.

With a foreword by bestselling author of Wilding, Isabella Tree, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature’s great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for the UK’s growing flooding problems, whilst ensuring the creation of essential landscapes that enable the broadest spectrum of Britain’s wildlife to thrive. 

‘It is wonderful to see that beavers are now officially back on the list of native species, having been absent for so long . . . far too long!’ Dame Judi Dench