This book is similar in some ways to that reviewed earlier this morning – this one is cheaper and better.
Simon Willis chooses 30 species (eg Blue Tit, Lapwing) and groups of birds (eagles, flamingos) and tells us interesting things about them and about people connected to them.
This book is beautifully illustrated with a mixture of artwork and photographs. They are all nicely reproduced and are well chosen to illustrate what is written in the text.
The title is slightly misleading, and I think slightly off-putting, as this is essentially a pot pourri of historical tales and modern anecdotes. If you are interested in birds, and their interactions with people, or more correctly our interactions with them, then this is a book for you. It was a book for me and I learned quite a bit, was reminded of things I vaguely knew already and found it a pleasure to read. If you know someone who is interested in birds then this might be a potential Christmas present for them.
A History of Birds by Simon Wills is published by Pen and Sword Books
Behind More Binoculars by Keith Betton and Mark Avery is now published (by Pelagic). Here’s a very kind review of it. You can still buy it directly from Pelagic with a 30% discount using the code BMB30 – but only until the end of November.
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I think it would be more misleading if it was THE History of Birds, Mark.