The dozen-strong long list for the £5,000 Wainwright Prize, for nature and travel writing focused on Britain, has been cut to six and the titles on it will be announced on Thursday morning.  The winner will be named in August.

The judges are led by Dame Fiona Reynolds, former director-general of the National Trust, who has herself published this year a passionate appeal for the defence of Britain’s natural landscape, The Fight for Beauty (Oneworld).  She was a contributor recently to The Guardian Books Podcast, with the mountaineer Simon Ingram.