After my initial sorting of the natural history books I regularly receive to be considered for review in The Well-read Naturalist, I find that – aside from field and reference guides – there are essentially three groups into which those I end up reading for the purpose may be classed. The first are those in […]
One of the things I like best about Birdfair is the opportunity it gives me to discover new natural history books that might not otherwise have come to my attention on the North American side of the Atlantic. And of the many fascinating books I took note of at this year’s event, Charlie Elder’s Few and Far Between; On The Trail of Britain’s Rarest Animals is the one I looked most forward to reading.
The World’s Rarest Birds is not merely a collection of brilliant photographs; it is an exceptionally well-researched and written compendium of information about the state of the world’s birds, considered both regionally as well as specifically.
In his Aspects of the Novel, E.M. Forster famously wrote “’The king died and then the queen died’” is a story. ‘The king died, and then the queen died of grief’ is a plot.” While Elizabeth Gehman’s Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man Who Brought It Back from Extinction is […]