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The Natural History of Unicorns (Hardcover)

by Chris Lavers (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 280 pages
  • Publisher: Granta Books; First Editon edition (1 Jan 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1847080626
  • ISBN-13: 978-1847080622
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 16 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 50,868 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #71 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Customs & Folklore > Customs
    #86 in  Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Mythology > Folklore
    #94 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Customs & Folklore > Folklore

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Product Description

Review

'Beguiling ... wise and entertaining' - Sunday Times --Review


Review

`Entertaining and diverting ... Laver's lively account is full of marvels' - Sunday Telegraph
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars From the author, 30 Jan 2009
Dear readers. Here are some press cuttings. If you buy the book I hope you enjoy it.

Spectator
'Scholarly and continually absorbing ... highly original and stylish ... Everything you need to know about unicorns is here. Lovely.'

The Guardian
'Lively, compelling, full of anecdote, wry scepticism and an honest humility about the things it is simply impossible for us to know for certain ... The book, like its subject, is not quite one thing nor another, but a fascinating hybrid'

Sunday Telegraph
'Entertaining and diverting ... The unicorn remains a symbol of power and mystery, and Lavers's lively account is as full of marvels'

The Independent
'In the wrong hands this could easily become flat and rather tedious. But Lavers has the gift of literary touch. He treats his sources with sympathy respect and good humour, but never topples into over-seriousness. He is a good bubble-burster, leading the reader along into a kind of scholarly shaggy-dog story and then popping it with a prick of nicely phrased common sense.'

Sunday Times
'In this beguiling book, Chris Lavers pursues the unicorn across two and a half millenniums ... By the end of this wise and entertaining book, his unicorn has ceased to be the quaint motif of nursery rhyme and heraldry, and has instead become a symbol of vulnerability and co-dependence of species, including our own'

The Times
'The origin of the species and its later fame told in lore and legend is cleverly told'

Financial Times
'[An] intriguing book ... The history of a non-existent animal is, by definition, a series of diversions from actuality, and, by reversing that trajectory, Lavers' book takes us to some fascinating places'

Daily Telegraph
'Chris Lavers traces our fascination with the idea of a one-horned horse back 2,000 years in this scholarly history of unicorns ... The history of the unicorn shows human beings at our imaginative best and our manipulative worst'

Esquire
'Some writers might shy away from conducting an anthropological study of a creature that, for most of us, resides only in spiritual bookshops and She-Ra cartoons. Not Lavers, who goes to painstaking lengths to analyse and deconstruct reports of the animals through the ages, to find out how - and even if - they were first imagined'
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, original read., 9 Feb 2009
By T. Holmes (Sheffield UK) - See all my reviews
I had to read this book after reading a review in `The Independent' describing the book as a "scholarly shaggy-dog story". I found Chapter 5 a little involved (on Khutu), but overall this book is a fascinating, original read. Who would guess that the story of the unicorn (actually many different unicorns) would branch into so many areas of history and culture. Very well-written.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative book of unicorns, 11 Sep 2009
By Louise Amkaer (Greenland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is an excellent book about unicorns that seeks to answer the following questions:
- What animals are unicorns?
- Where do the myths of unicorns come from?
- What is the unicorn's symbolism?
- How are unicorns depicted in art?
- What medicinal properties do unicorn horn have?
- Where do unicorn horns on the market come from?
- Can unicorns exist scientifically speaking?

These short and flat questions do not encompass the books contents. The book is approachable, intelligently written, humourous, and a scholarly achievement.

Oh yes, and luckily there are no new age-y, pastel coloured horses with a single horn here. (Thank you for that.)

Louise.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice book, boring second half
Original idea to bring all possible sources about unicorns in one beautifully edited book. But after a few chapters the endless recapitulations start to bore, the author finds it... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Carl Peremans

5.0 out of 5 stars An enchanting and intriguing book
I have looked forward to this since "Elephants have Big Ears." Chris Lavers unites myth with nature in his own inimitable style and takes us on a magical journey through 2000... Read more
Published 9 months ago by David

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