Ever since I was a boy, I have loved the night. Short-sighted as I was, I found that moving about in the darkness of my rural home village put matters on a more even playing field, as it were, with all those who could see much more clearly than I could in the daylight. In fact, mix a little fog into the darkness and I was in heaven; no one else could then see any better than I could.
However there was also something magical about the night. In the night, more animals were about their business. Sound seemed to carry farther at night, and then there were the stars! Far from fearing things that went bump, I coveted the time I could spend outdoors at night as it was then that – to me – the world came alive.
Which is why I was so keen to get my hands on a copy of Tiffany Francis-Baker‘s book Dark Skies; a Journey into the Wild Night. From what I can tell of her publisher’s explanation of the book, Ms. Francis-Baker seems to share my love of the darkness. In the book she explores both the natural history of the night, as well as, according to Bloomsbury, “the history of the ancient rituals and seasonal festivals that for thousands of years humans have linked with the light and dark halves of our year.”
How could any self-respecting nyctophile not be intrigued at such promises from a book?
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