At the heart of bushcraft is a study of nature. A range of good quality field guides and nature books will help you identify species and interpret your natural surroundings.

All the books below come highly recommended.

The links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you buy one of these books via a link below, a small percentage of the purchase price goes to help maintaining this website but costs you no extra..

I won’t put a book on here that I don’t think is good because next time you won’t believe me. My credibility with you is more important to me than a small fraction of the cost of a book.

The idea of the list below is to provide a solid foundational library of nature books that should provide the reader with good identification abilities and an appreciation of the ecology of the species in which they are interested.

Please note, for those who are interested in wild foods there is a separate list of recommended wild food and foraging books.

Recommended Tree Identification Books – Britain and Western Europe

Owen Johnson & David More – Collins Tree Guide
Roger Phillips – Trees in Britain, Europe and North America
John Poland – The Field Key to Winter Twigs
Keith Rushforth – Trees of Britain & Europe (Collins Wildlife Trust Guide)
Bernd Schulz – Identification of Trees and Shrubs in Winter Using Buds and Twigs
Paul Sterry – Collins Complete Guide To British Trees

Recommended Plant Identification Books – Britain and Western Europe

Richard Fitter – Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe
Roger Phillips – Grasses, Ferns, Mosses and Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland
Francis Rose – The Wild Flower Key
Paul Sterry – Collins Complete Guide To British Wild Flowers
David Streeter et al – Collins Wild Flower Guide
David Streeter and Ian Garrard – The Wild Flowers of the British Isles

Recommended Fungi Identification Books – Britain and Western Europe

Andreas Bresinsky – A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Fungi
Stefan Buczacki et al – Collins Fungi Guide: The Most Complete Field Guide to the Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Ireland
Geoff Dann – Edible Mushrooms
Roger Phillips – Mushrooms
Alexander Schwab – Mushrooming Without Fear
Paul Sterry & Barry Hughes – Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools
John Wright – River Cottage Mushroom Handbook

Recommended Wildlife Books – Britain and Europe

Preben Bang & Preben Dahlstrom – Animal Tracks and Signs
Nicholas Arnold & Denys Ovenden – Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe (Collins Field Guide)
Michael Chinery – Insects of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins Field Guide)
Colin Harrison & Peter Castell – Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings (Collins Field Guide)
Rob Hume – RSPB Birds of Britain and Europe: The Definitive Photographic Field Guide
David Lees et al – Tracks and Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe (Helm Identification Guides)
Richard Prior – Deer Watch: A Field Guide
Michael J. Roberts – Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins Field Guide)
Timothy Roper – Badger (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 114)
John Rhyder – Track and Sign: A Guide to the Field Signs of Mammals and Birds of the UK
Geoff Sample – Collins Field Guide to Bird Songs & Calls of Britain and Northern Europe (includes 2 CDs)
Geoff Sample – Collins Field Guide to Wildlife Sounds: Britain and Ireland (includes CD)
Paul Sterry – Complete British Animals
Paul Sterry – Complete British Wildlife
Paul Sterry – Collins Complete Guide to British Birds
Lars Svensson et al – Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe

Recommended Further Reading

Gabriel Hemery & Sarah Simblet – The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century
Richard Mabey – Flora Britannica
Oliver Rackham – Woodlands
Various Authors – Collins New Naturalist Library Series

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