I liked Conor’s previous book, but I like this one even more. Whereas in Silent Spring Revisited Conor lived through the events described but seemed, to me, to be a little detached from them, this is a book where he describes what he did, and where he went, to get to grips better with a…
Category: Book review
Book review – Britain’s Sea Mammals by Jon Dunn, Robert Still and Hugh Harrop
The first cetacean I ever saw was probably a harbour porpoise off the coast of Argyll – although I thought it was a dolphin. And the first whale I saw, which surfaced in a raft of Manx shearwaters off the north coast of Rhum, was probably a minke whale – although I thought it was…
Book review – Nature all around us by Beatrix Beisner, Christian Messier and Luc-Alain Giraldeau
This is a lovely little book: small in size but great in scope. It is subtitled a ‘guide to urban ecology’ but since ecology is the same everywhere it is a guide to ecology which has been approached through the everyday sights and sounds that surround those people who might think that they are most…
Book review – Birds in a Cage by Derek Niemann
I liked this book. Birds in a Cage is the story of four British prisoners of war, Second Lieutenant Peter Conder, Second Lieutenant John Buxton, Second Lieutenant George Waterston and Squadron Leader John Barrett, who, after WWII, went on to influence nature conservation practice and policy. It’s a remarkable tale which is beautifully told. On…
Book review – Wild Hope by Andrew Balmford
I count the author of this book as a friend and therefore you might want to discount all the good things I am going to write about his excellent book – please don’t do that. Professor Andrew Balmford FRS is one of just a handful of UK academics who understands nature conservation through doing it,…