West with the Light

''Don''t send him to Torremolinos; it''s not his kind of tundra.'' Such was the mantra of The Sunday Times when considering assignments for Brian Jackman, for whom deserts, rain forests and mountain ranges have always been more enticing habitats.After decades spent travelling and writing about the places and wildlife that have inspired him, one of the world''s most experienced naturalists has turned his focus onto the story of his inspirational life. ''This is no ordinary autobiography'', he says. West with the Light sweeps through Jackman''s wartime evacuation, grammar school, Soho jazz clubs of the ''50s and the navy to a career in travel journalism to which his first marriage gave way before he found a new, true and more lasting love that abides to this day in his beloved rural Dorset.Beginning with memories of Edwardian London and the growth of suburbia, it provides a vivid portrayal of post-war travel and the rise of a new sort of tourism - ecotourism - set against the background