The Fourth may be the most celebrated day in July, but we at the Press are fond of a lesser-known summer celebration, “Don’t Step on a Bee Day,” observed annually on the 10th. While watching your step for wayward insects, you might consider how our multi-legged friends played an essential role in advancing an important scientific and philosophical movement in nineteenth-century England by reading John F. McDiarmid Clark’s new book, Bugs and the Victorians. 

In Clark’s eyes, insects not are not pests, but rather sources of wonder and discovery. Filled with stories of famous and eccentric entomologists, Clark shows how the study of bugs shaped the development of modern Britain. You’ll never look at a bug…or a bee, the same way again. Wildlife enthusiasts can also look forward to Peter Forbes’s discussion of animal camouflage, Dazzled and Deceived, now available for pre-order.