From the south-westernmost tip of Cornwall to the rugged coast of Sutherland the remarkable and intricate coastline of the British Isles is enormously rich in geology and human history. Since the dawn of creation the sea and the forces of nature have been sculpting the rocks, sands and marshes. A newly published book, ‘The Living Coast’, by Christopher Somerville, is beautifully illustrated with aerial photography by Adrian Warren and Dae Sasitorn, whose truly sumptuous images bring alive the wonderfully diverse landscape of these islands. As on the famous island of Staffa, the cliffs at Kilt Rock, Trotternish, on the Isle of Skye show immense walls of columnar basalt dropping to the sea. Further west the village houses on lonely St Kilda can be seen straggling out in a long ragged line.

‘The Living Coast’ celebrates the dynamic interplay between sea, land and people in the 376 images from the air. Adrian Warren, Dae Sasitorn and Christopher Somerville are uniquely qualified – Christopher Somerville is one of the UK’s best known writers on walking and travel, with a particular expertise on Britain’s coast, while Adrian Warren and Dae Sasitorn are internationally celebrated for their stunning and poetic aerial photographs of the landscape of these islands.

FIELDFACTS The Living Coast: An Aerial View of Britain’s Shoreline. Photography by Adrian Warren, Dae Sasitorn, text by Christopher Somerville. Last Refuge Publishing (www.lastrefuge.co.uk), RRP £14.99, published Nov 2008, available in bookshops. Readers can order a copy of The Living Coast direct from Last Refuge, www.last refuge.co.uk Tel: 01934 712 556 for £14.50 including free Post and Package.