Dark Skies

Darkness has shaped our lives for millennia, and in this beautifully written nature narrative, Tiffany Francis travels around Britain and Europe to learn more about nocturnal landscapes, investigate how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated our history, folklore, science, geography, art and literature, and examine how our connection to the night has changed over time.

Tiffany travels through nightscapes across the UK and beyond, experiencing 24-hour daylight swimming in the Gulf of Finland and visiting Arctic Norway to witness the Northern Lights and speak to people who live in darkness for three months each year. She hikes through the haunted yew forests of Kingley Vale, embarks on a nocturnal sail down the River Dart, feeds foxes on a south London estate, and listens to Nightjars churring on Sussex heathland.

As she travels, Tiffany delves into the history of ancient rituals and seasonal festivals that we have linked with the light and dark halves of our year for millennia. How has our relationship with darkness changed over time? How have we used stars and other cosmic phenomena to tell stories about our lives and the landscapes around us?