Why do we pick up pebbles on the beach? What is it we see in them, and why do we take them home to display on our shelves? Is it their inherent beauty, their infinite variation, or simply their associations with a happy time and place? In this book - part social history and part practical guide - writer and pebble collector Christopher Stocks unearths the sometimes surprising story of our love-affair with pebbles, and considers how the way we see them today has been influenced over the years by artists, authors and even archaeologists. Printmaker Angie Lewin is widely admired for her alluringly stylish images of the natural world. She celebrates the experience of walking and sketching along the British coastline, often incorporating pebbles in her limited edition prints and paintings. Many of these feature in the book alongside a series of new images.

The perfect countryside and armchair companion to the wild flowers of the British Isles. Illustrator Angie Lewin and author Christopher Stocks follow up the success of The Book of Pebbles with The Book of Wildflowers, a celebration of British wild flowers and their place in the landscape. Christopher Stocks reveals the interesting and unusual history and science of wild flowers, including guidance on where they can be found and also tips for cultivation. Designed in a similar format to The Book of Pebbles, it will focus on around 15 of Lewin's favourite wild flowers, and include reproductions of her paintings and illustrations, many of them created specially for the book. Sustaining our long-held affection for the British countryside, The Book of Wildflowers will appeal to anyone who loves British wild flowers, as well as fans of Angie Lewin, who is widely admired for her alluring images of the natural world. It is intended to be followed by a companion volume on cultivated flowers.

The artist Angie Lewin has a unique vision of the natural world. Her hugely popular prints depict in intricate detail the native flora of a variety of environments, from salt marsh and Highland loch to flower-strewn meadow and wild garden. Lewin finds beauty in each landscape, whatever the season, and is particularly inspired by plant forms: slender reeds, stately goatsbeard, spiky teasels and sculptural seed heads. Plants and Places presents over 70 of Lewin's beautifully crafted linocuts and wood engravings.The works are grouped according to habitat - such as coast, woodland and hedgerow, and garden - together with drawings, paintings and collages from Lewin's sketchbooks of grasses, seed pods, seaweed, shells and other objects that she has collected on her walks. In an engaging introduction, Leslie Geddes-Brown meets Lewin in her studio, discusses her artistic inspiration and her fascination with plants, and describes how she creates her prints.