Books I’ve written or co-written, and a few for which I have written forewords, above the desk at which I write. And a lovely Robert Gillmor print, from Prairie to Pampas, on the wall.

This page is in the process of being redesigned and repopulated. Everything should work on it but you may find a few rough edges. If you keep coming back you’ll find it gets better over time.

These are books that I have written with a few words about them and why you might be interested in buying them. You can buy them wherever you like, but I’d appreciate it if you avoided Amazon because authors get very little from each Amazon sale. But I’d rather you bought my books from Amazon than not at all. However,

Reflections: what wildlife needs and how to provide it

Published by Pelagic, 2023. Cover by Rachael Hudson.

A mental journey from my street and the wild flowers (some might say weeds) that grow there, through the successes and failures of UK nature conservation to an agenda for successful nature conservation. I’ve been doing nature conservation and thinking about it for over 40 years so this book is either the distilled wisdom of a senior environmental figure or an admission of failure for a life spent being on the side of wildlife and nature.

This is what Ian Carter, another author and nature conservationist, said ‘The most insightful and accessible book we have on the current state of wildlife conservation in Britain and what we might do to improve things.‘.

You can buy this books from Bookshop.org and I’ve set up a booklist to make that easy https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/MarkAvery Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Remarkable Birds

Published by Thames and Hudson. First edition, 2016. Second edition, 2024 (with the same words, a different cover and a slightly smaller size. Translated into French, Spanish, Chinese and Russian.

This is a celebration of birds, their variety, their behaviour, their beauty. As one would expect from Thames and Hudson, there are many fine illustrations, prints and drawings with words from me in between.

This is a book to give as a present to anyone with even the vaguest interest in birds and appreciation of natural beauty.

Birdwatching magazine ‘Avery’s clear prose complements the pictures perfectly, so that it’s a great book to dip in and out of – I guarantee you’ll come away having learned something new’.

You can buy this book from Bookshop.org and I’ve set up a booklist to make that easy https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/MarkAvery Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Inglorious – conflict in the uplands.

Published by Bloomsbury. Hardback edition 2015, Paperback, 2nd, enlarged, edition, 2016.

This is a campaigning book which argues for the banning of driven grouse shooting in the uplands of Britain. Why? Because the management underpinning intensive grouse shoots increases flood risk, increases water pollution, increases carbon emissions from peat soils and relies on landscape-scale illegal killing of birds of prey including Hen Harriers, Peregrine Falcons and Golden Eagles.

It was a struggle to persuade Bloomsbury to publish this book and yet the hardback sold far better than their expectations and they requested an additional short chapter for the paperback. I’ve sold hundreds of copies at talks. There is a spurt of sales every year as we approach the Inglorious 12 August – the start of the Red Grouse shooting season.

Chris Packham from the Foreword to Inglorious: ‘I like Mark Avery’s outlook and attitude. He’s fairly unique among conservationists for two important reasons – he doesn’t sit on the fence,and he doesn’t pull his punches. Thus he isn’t afraid to say it like it is and doesn’t shy away from a fight.‘ and ‘So when we are told by the shooting fraternity that they are ‘looking after the uplands’ the joke simply isn’t funny any more. They burn it, drain it, poison it, denude it of any life that may possibly harm a grouse, and then kill the grouse themselves. How absurd.‘

Charlie Elder in BBC Wildlife magazine (who made Inglorious their Book of the Month): ‘expansive in scope yet forensic in detail‘ and ‘clearly reasoned and well-written‘ and that the idea of a ban on driven grouse shooting is a ‘powerful message and one that is increasingly capturing the public’s imagination‘.

James Attlee in the Independent ‘ Avery is a reasonable man; by his own admission “a wishy-washy liberal” who has engaged in fruitless years of dialogue with the grouse-shooting industry in his efforts to gain concessions. Once roused, however, he proves indefatigable. So far the political connections and powerful lobbying of the industry has maintained the status quo, but public opinion seems to have shifted‘.

A Message from Martha – the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and its relevance today.

Published by Bloomsbury, 2014, to mark the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon when the last Passenger Pigeon on Earth died at Cincinatti Zoo on 1 September 1914. Cover by Carry Akroyd.

My most-neglected book, which is a shame as it is one of which I am really quite proud, and one which, I know from feedback, has made a lasting impression on readers.

In a very kind review by John E. Riutta, The Well-Read Naturalist, this comment stands out for an author ‘If you read only one book on the Passenger Pigeon during 2014 – or anytime after – make it Mark Avery’s A Message from Martha.‘.

Fighting for birds – 25 years in nature conservation

Published by Pelagic in 2012.

Behind the Binoculars – interviews with acclaimed birdwatchers

MY BOOKS