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A Sting in the Tale

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A Sting in the Tale

By: Dave Goulson
Narrated by: Dave Goulson
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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of A Sting in the Tale, written and read by Dave Goulson.

A Sunday Times bestseller

Shortlisted for the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize

Dave Goulson has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees.

Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-haired bumblebee is now extinct in the UK, but still exists in the wilds of New Zealand, descended from a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century. A Sting in the Tale tells the story of Goulson’s passionate drive to reintroduce it to its native land and contains groundbreaking research into these curious creatures, history’s relationship with the bumblebee, the disastrous effects intensive farming has had on our bee populations and the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.

©2013 Dave Goulson (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks Animals

Critic Reviews

[Goulson’s] book is not only enormously informative, but also hugely entertaining: its light touch and constant humour make cutting-edge research a pleasure to read about… For anyone interested in the natural world, this is essential reading. (Michael McCarthy)
Goulson reminds himself that he ‘began studying bumblebees not because they are important pollinators but because they are fascinating, because they behave in interesting and mysterious ways, and because they are rather loveable.’ It’s worth reading A Sting in the Tale for the same reasons. (Hannah Rosefield)
A worthy book of the year. (Mary Beard)
Goulson has plenty of wondrous biological stories to tell, as well as the tale of his own struggle to return the short-haired bumblebee to Britain. (Patrick Barkham)
This isn’t one of those natural science books that simply tells you things – it admits how much we don’t know. (Mark Mason)

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Profile Image for justine

a must read

from novice beekeeping to happy go lucky backyard gardener
inspirational and prayers given in Susie life of the humble bumble bee

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So good

Dave manages to get across the impact and the hope and joy. A lovely book we’ll written and read. Highly recommend.

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Profile Image for Ruth Lilian Spearing

Fascinating book.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book nearly as much as much as I did. It’s a great listen, very interesting, humorous and beautifully read. Definitely a 5 star book! Do listen to it.

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