“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.'-The Guardian 'Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.'-BBC Wildlife magazine Birds, Beasts and Bedlam recounts the adventures of farmer-turned-rewilder Derek Gow, who is saving Britain's much-loved but dangerously threatened species, from the water vole to beaver, wildcat to white stork, and tree frog to glow worm. Derek tells us all about the realities of rewilding; how he reared delicate roe deer and a sofa-loving wild boar piglet, moved a raging bison bull across the country, got bitten by a Scottish wildcat, returned honking skeins of graylag geese to the land and water that was once theirs, and restored the white stork to the Knepp Estate with Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree. Derek's first book, Bringing Back the Beaver, was a riotously funny and subversive account of his single-handed reintroduction of the beaver in Britain. Birds, Beasts and Bedlam, a natural successor to Gerald Durrell's A Zoo in My Luggage, tells the story of Derek's rewilding journey and his work to save many more species by transforming his Devon farm into a wildlife breeding center. He now houses beavers, white storks, water voles, lynx, wildcats, and harvest mice, with the aim of releasing them into the wild one day. Tearing down fences literally and metaphorically, Derek Gow is the one person with the character and strength of will to defy authority, bend the rules-and save our wildlife. 'The radical rewilder.'-The Times 'Derek Gow wants his farm to be a breeding colony, a seedbed for a denuded island.'-The New Yorker"--