A Nature Book Reader
DOMINIC COUZENS Dominic Couzens is a full time writer on natural history
Handbook of Birds of the World by Josep del Hoyo et al I’m almost embarrassed to admit that my no 1 choice is the mighty, multi-volume work Handbook of the Birds of the World. As a writer, I feel that I really ought to have chosen something more artistic and wistful, something other than a relatively straightforward encyclopedia of all the world’s feathered creatures. But if I had chosen anything else, I would have been less than truthful. After all, if I ever was to find myself stranded on a desert island, having a set of these magnificent books would do more than just give me plenty of time to learn all about birds, but would be awe-inspiring and good company too. Before the launch of the first volume of HBW in
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1992, nobody ever thought it would be possible for any book to illustrate and describe every species in the world (10,000 or so). But this is what the series has done, and to say that it has been achieved magnificently is almost an understatement. From the stunning colour paintings and photographs to the authoritative but readable texts, it has been a triumph for the admixture of art and science: truth and wonder in one potent mix.
Further Reading The Whispering Land by Gerald Durrell The Web of Adaptation by David Snow