Meet the rare, the obscure, and the utterly British species found nowhere else on Earth.

Around 70,000 species call Britain home, but only a small fraction exist exclusively on these islands. In Endemic, conservationist James Harding-Morris uncovers the remarkable stories of Britain’s endemic wildlife, the plants, animals, and fungi that are found here and only here.

Determined to give these irreplaceable species their moment in the spotlight, James travels the length and breadth of Britain. From the wild, windswept landscapes of Orkney, home to the elusive Orkney vole, to suburban Plymouth, where the horrid ground-weaver spider teeters on the edge of global extinction due to urban development.

Along the way, he encounters alien fungi thriving on Norfolk’s roadsides, descends into the depths of Devon in search of ghostly cave shrimps, and traces the strange fate of interrupted brome, a grass that has gone extinct not once, but twice. He also meets the scientists and conservationists working tirelessly, often single-handedly, to study and protect these vanishing species.

Many of these plants and creatures are at risk of disappearing forever, before most of us have even realised they exist.

A tapestry of wonder and weirdness, loss and survival, Endemic celebrates what makes Britain’s natural history so distinctive and issues a quiet but urgent call to cherish and protect it.