Mark has been particularly busy with his book reviewing over the past week as he’s published two new book reviews in his blog this Sunday.
First up is Birdmania; A Remarkable Passion for Birds by Bernd Brunner, published by Greystone Books in an English translation by Jane Billinghurst from the original German Ornithomania and featuring a foreword by Pete Dunne. Mark – never fearful of taking a contrarian position – doesn’t appear to have been particularly pleased with what he found in this otherwise widely-praised book.
However he then follows on with another he seemed to find more enjoyable: A History of Birds by Dr. Simon Wills, published by Pen and Sword Books. I have to say, I had not previously heard of this book, author, or publisher. However that’s why keeping a weather eye on the opinions of multiple reviewers can be helpful – with so many books being published by so many different houses, no one person can hope to keep track of them all.
Links to Mark Avery’s Sunday book reviews appear in The Well-read Naturalist by special arrangement. You can find all of Mark’s past reviews as well as a wide-ranging collection of his other writings on his Standing Up for Nature website. Mark’s opinions regarding the books he reviews are his own.
