There are 10,500 species of bird worldwide and wherever they occur people marvel at their glorious colours and their beautiful songs. This title describes and maps the entire spectrum of our engagements with birds, drawing in themes of history, literature, art, cuisine, language, lore, politics and the environment.
It takes a whole universe to make one small black birdThe story of all life on Earth, told through a single day spent in the company of swifts.Swifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds. Their migrations span continents and their twelve-week stopover, when they pause to breed in European rooftops, is the very definition of summer. They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads. No birds are more wreathed in mystery. Captivated, Mark Cocker sets out to capture their essence.Over the course of one day in midsummer he devotes himself to his beloved black birds as they spiral overhead. Yet this is also a book about so much more. Swifts are a prism through which Cocker explores the profound interconnections of the whole biosphere.From the deep-sea thermal vents where life was born to the 15 million degrees at the core of our Sun, he shows that life is a singular and glorious continuum. These birds without borders are a perfect symbol to express the unity of the living planet. But they also illuminate how no creature, least of all ourselves, can be said to be alive in isolation. We are all inextricably connected.Drawing deeply on science, history, literature and a lifetime of close observation, One Midsummer's Day is a dazzling and wide-ranging celebration of all life on Earth by one of our greatest nature writers.
For seventeen years, as part of his daily writerly routine, the author and naturalist Mark Cocker has taken a two-mile walk down to the river from his cottage on the edge of the Norfolk Broads National Park. Over the course of those 10,000 daily paces he has learnt the art of patience to observe a butterfly, a bird, flower, bee, deer, otter or fly and to take pleasure in all the other inhabitants of his parish, no matter how seemingly insignificant. In turn these encounters have then been converted into literary epiphanies that are now a widely celebrated part of his work. In A Claxton Diary he has gathered some of the finest short essays that he has ever written on wildlife. They range over almost everything he can see, touch or smell, from the minute to the cosmic, from a strange micromoth called yellow-barred longhorn to that fiercest of winter storms the so-called 'Beast from the East'. Here also are blackbirds at their dawn chorus, or owls ghosting down the dykes at last light. Here are unwedded queen ants pouring out of the pavement cracks for their nuptial flights, or a garden cross spider spraying a bumblebee with jets of silk that are, gram for gram, stronger than tensile steel. From the marvellous to the macabre, Cocker tries to capture nature without flinching and in its entirety. In so doing he provides us with a vision of an English country parish that for intimacy and precise detail is comparable with Gilbert White's diary on Selbourne. Above all he reminds us that we are all just members of one miraculous family, fashioned from sunlight and the dust from old stars
'After Mark Cocker's glorious book, you will never look at a blackberry bush the same way again.' Philip Hoare, New Statesman In 2001 Mark Cocker moved to Claxton, a small village in Norfolk.Shortlisted for the Royal Society of Biology Book Award, the Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards, the New Angle Prize and theThwaites Wainwright Prize
Journalist Cocker is a member of a community of fanatics who watch birds. Now he offers what "The Baltimore Sun" calls "the most graceful, respectful and technically rich book on [this] fascination."
One night Mark Cocker followed the roiling, deafening flock of rooks and jackdaws which regularly passed over his Norfolk home on their way to roost in the Yare valley. Step by step he uncovers the complexities of the birds' inner lives, the unforeseen richness hidden in the raucous crow song he calls 'our landscape made audible'.
Focusing on pivotal encounters between European nations and indigenous peoples, this book explores the profound impact of imperialism through four key historical events: the conquest of Mexico, the British assault on Tasmanian Aborigines, the displacement of the Apaches, and the German campaign against Southwest African tribes. Mark Cocker's beautifully written narrative combines thorough research with compelling storytelling, offering a balanced critique of colonialism while engaging readers with harrowing tales that resonate with contemporary issues.
The Birds and the Bees series was designed for Vintage Classics by Timorous Beasties, the Scottish studio famous for their designs inspired by the natural worldOne night Mark Cocker followed the roiling, deafening flock of rooks and jackdaws which regularly passed over his Norfolk home on their way to roost in the Yare valley.
The book explores the deep-rooted relationship between birds and British culture, highlighting their significance in social history, literature, and the landscape. It features insights from over 1,000 naturalists and bird enthusiasts, covering topics like ecology, myths, and the cultural impact of birds. With contributions that blend humor and personal anecdotes, it serves as both a scholarly resource and a nationwide chronicle of birdlife in the early twenty-first century, capturing the essence of why birds are cherished in British society.
'Essential reading for anybody who cares about the future' Henry Marsh, New Statesman Books of the Year A radical examination of Britain's relationship with the land by one of our greatest nature writers.