Book Description
Another magnificent achievement and a unique work of huge importance - a handsome, easy-to-read, comprehensive cultural and social study, species by species, of all the birds in Britain. Companion volume to Flora Britannica.
Product Description
Birds Britannica is neither an identification guide nor a behavioural study (though both these subjects enter its field). It covers cultural links; social history; birds as food; ecology; the lore and language of birds; myths, art, literature and music; anecdotes, birdsong and rare facts; modern developments; migration, the seasons and our sense of place. An attempt to describe the interaction of birds and humans, it captures the essence of why birds matter. (20041109)
From the Publisher
Published to universal acclaim: "A national monument ...The wider wonders of bird life rise from the pages of Birds Britannica like a distant flock of winter waders' Sunday Times. 'There are not many reference books I could happily read from cover to cover - but this is a welcome exception. The publishers claim that Birds Britannica is "a bird book like no other", and, for once, the hype is justified. Be warned: you may become so immersed in its pages that, before you realise it, the dawn chorus has begun' Evening Standard. 'Brims over with joy' Telegraph. 'British bird life has found its perfect encyclopedist ... The book is a triumph' Guardian
About the Author
Mark Cocker is one of Britain's foremost writers on nature and contributes regularly to the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement, as well as BBC Radio Four. His six other books deal with modern responses to wilderness, whether found in landscape, human societies or in other species. They include a biography, Richard Meinerzthagen, shortlisted for the Angel Prize and the hugely acclaimed bestseller Birds Britannica (with Richard Mabey). He recently won a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to study the cultural importance of birds in West Africa. (20041109)
