Common and exotic, glamorous and ferocious, sociable and sullen: zebras mean many things to many people. The extraordinary beauty of their striped coats makes them one of the world's most recognizable animals. They have been immortalized in paint by artists including George Stubbs and Lucian Freud, and zebra-print designs permeate contemporary society - on beanbags and bikinis, car seats and pencil cases. Zebras even have a road crossing named after them. But the natural and cultural history of the zebra remains a mystery to most. Few know that there are three species of zebra, or that one of these is currently endangered, or that the quagga, an animal that once roamed southern Africa in large numbers before dying out in the 1880s, is among the zebra's many subspecies. Zebra is a comprehensive and wide-ranging study of the natural and cultural history of this popular animal. Using a wide range of sources and stories, it shows how the zebra's history engages and intersects with diverse topics, including eighteenth-century humour, imperialism and camouflage technologies. Including more than a hundred illustrations, many previously unpublished, it offers a new way of thinking about this much-loved but frequently misunderstood animal.

The global smash-hit Netflix documentary mini-series, Tiger King, introduced viewers to the weird, crazy and chaotic life of private zoo owner and big cat breeder, Joe Exotic, and his war against Carole Baskin. Baskin, who runs the Big Cat Rescue in Florida, a sanctuary for abused and abandoned wild cats, waged a long legal battle to have Joe's exotic animal park in Oklahoma shut down for the maltreatment of his animals. But Carole had her own dark past and Joe wasn't going down without a fight; he responded by plotting to have her murdered. Tiger Wars delves deeper into this stranger-than-fiction tale and tells the shocking story of this big cat war, the cult-like characters involved and the spiral of obsession that landed Joe Exotic in jail and exposed the dark heart of America's big cat obsession.

A moose frustrates commuters by wandering onto the highway; a cougar stalks his prey through suburban backyards; an alligator suns himself in a strip mall parking lot. Such stories, which regularly make headline news, highlight the blurred divide that now exists between civilization and wilderness.

In "Coyote at the Kitchen Door," Stephen DeStefano draws on decades of experience as a biologist and conservationist to examine the interplay between urban sprawl and wayward wildlife. As he explores what our insatiable appetite for real estate means for the health and wellbeing of animals and ourselves, he highlights growing concerns, such as the loss of darkness at night because of light pollution. DeStefano writes movingly about the contrasts between constructed and natural environments and about the sometimes cherished, sometimes feared place that nature holds in our modern lives, as we cluster into cities yet show an increasing interest in the natural world.

Woven throughout the book is the story of one of the most successful species in North America: the coyote. Once restricted to the prairies of the West, this adaptable animal now inhabits most of North America urban and wild alike. DeStefano traces a female coyote s movements along a winding path between landscapes in which her species learned to survive and flourish. "Coyote at the Kitchen Door" asks us to rethink the meaning of progress and create a new suburban wildlife ethic.

Have you ever found a body on the beach?Recently widowed Libby Forest arrives in the small coastal town of Exham-on-Sea, keen to start a new life baking cakes and designing chocolates. Walking on the beach one stormy autumn day, Libby and excitable Springer Spaniel 'Shipley' discover a dead body under the lighthouse. Convinced the death was no accident, Libby teams up with Max Ramshore, an attractive local resident, and Bear, a huge sheepdog, to confront indifference from the community and unmask the killer. Murder at the Lighthouse is the first in a series of Exham-on-Sea Murder Mysteries set at the small English seaside town full of quirky characters, sea air and gossip. If you love Agatha Christie-style mysteries, cosy crime, clever dogs and cake, then you'll love these intriguing whodunnits. THE EXHAM-ON-SEA MURDER MYSTERIES: 1. Murder at the Lighthouse 2. Murder on the Levels: 3. Murder on the Tor: 4. Murder at the Cathedral 5. Murder at the Bridge 6. Murder at the Castle 7. Murder at the Gorge 8. Murder at the Abbey Other Books by Frances Evesham in the Ham Hill Murder Mystery series A Village Murder A Racing Murder A Harvest Murder Here's what readers are saying about the series:'This is a perfect short, cosy mystery.' 'It makes you wonder if English country villages are safe places to live. But I certainly would given half a chance.' 'Frances Evesham has invented an array of lively village personalities to get in Libby's way from her Goth teenage lodger to the pompous chair of the women's group or the rude but kindly garage proprietor." 'With every book, I grow more fond of Libby and Exham.' 'If you like Miss Marple this amateur sleuth will enthral you.'