One of the noteworthy failings in my literary life up to this point is my not having read Laurie Lee’s classic work “Cider with Rosie.” However I suspect that Mark Avery has, as clearly has the author of the first of the two books he took up for review this past week: Stephen Moss.
The largest land animal species presently to be found in Great Britain is the Red Stag; after that, the Roe Deer, a few smaller deer, then the Badger and the Fox. However not so very long ago – a few thousand years or so, one would have seen a vastly different megafauna; Woolly Mammoth, Woolly Rhinoceros, Cave Lion, Cave Hyaena, and (my personal favorite) Irish Elk all roamed the ‘Sceptered Isle. So what happened to them? Why are they no longer to be seen – in Britain or anywhere, for that matter?
As the lyrics of one of the most famous popular Christmas songs goes “He knows if you’ve been bad or good / So be good for goodness sake.” And I mean really good; at least if you want to have a hope of seeing a copy of Lynx Edicions’ new 87.00€ “Bird Families of the World” in your stocking.
As one of the most talked-about destinations for both eco-tourism and adventure travel these days is the remains of the famed Inca city of Machu Picchu, it is indeed appropriate that Buteo Books, Lynx Edicions, and Barry Walker of Manu Expeditions have joined together to publish the new Field Guide to the Birds of Machu Picchu and the Cusco Region, Peru.