One of the things I like best about Birdfair is the opportunity it gives me to discover new natural history books that might not otherwise have come to my attention on the North American side of the Atlantic. And of the many fascinating books I took note of at this year’s event, Charlie Elder’s Few and Far Between; On The Trail of Britain’s Rarest Animals is the one I have looked most forward to reading.
After all, while there are libraries full of book about quests to see all the birds in a particular area, how many books do you know of where the author chronicles his journeys to see a diversity of fauna united only in that it is all rare within a geographic area? Thus from Basking Sharks to Great Crested Newts, Mr. Elder traverses the Scepter’d Isle solely for the purpose of seeing if he can see twenty five creatures that are not often seen. If such a quest doesn’t hold within it the potential for a thumping good read then I quite honestly don’t know what does.
