For many of us the moon, and the chill light it casts, are things we either ignore or take for granted. It wouldn't enter our heads therefore to set off around the world in search of moonlight. But, as James Attlee's eccentric quest proves, we couldn't be more wrong.

From Normandy to Naples, Wales to Arizona, Las Vegas to Japan, Attlee explores moonlight's many moods and meanings. Taking in the ancient and modern, art and literature, science and music, Nocturne travels far and deep to provide a portrait of an enigmatic light increasingly endangered in our over-illuminated world.

Fascinating, thoughtful, erudite, unpretentious, slightly batty and entirely captivating -- John Carey * Sunday Times *

A poetic and passionate story of light in darkness

* The Times *
Vagrant, erudite, frequently comical. A stylist of amazing wit and skill. A compendious, moving and impassioned guide * Irish Times *
Gloriously multifaceted and engaging. A gorgeous, thoughtful book * Sunday Telegraph *
Attlee is a true enthusiast, and is fascinated by, indeed loves, his subject. He writes beautifully and often thrillingly about the moon in all its - her? - aspects, and it will be a dull-minded reader who comes away from this book without a new or at least renewed regard for the extraordinary, silver satellite that is our world's constant companion -- John Banville * Guardian *
A wistful, fact-filled and esoteric treat * Sunday Times *

James Attlee lives in Oxford and works in art publishing in London. He is the author of Isolarion: a Different Oxford Journey and the co-author, with Lisa Le Feuvre, of Gordon Matta-Clark: The Space Between.