‘Magical … No journey in Britain will be quite the same again.’ The Guardian
Birds have long inspired our emotional and imaginative connections to physical environments, but where did it all begin?
Hidden in the names of English towns and villages, in copses, fields, lanes and hills, are the ghostly traces of birds conjuring powerful identities for people in ancient landscapes. What are their stories and secrets? How did people encounter birds over a thousand years ago?
In The Cuckoo’s Lea, Michael J. Warren sets out on the trail of these ghosts. Captivated and guided by the secrets of place names, he finds their stories entangled with his own explorations of places through birds all across England. The past is hauntingly and movingly present on timeless marshes where curlews cry, where goshawks are breeding again for the first time in centuries, through silent cuckoo-woods lost under concrete sprawl, in the winter roosts of corvids and an owl village that vanished centuries ago.
Weaving together early literature, history and ornithology, this book takes readers on a journey far into the past to contemplate the nature of place and to discover a fascinating heritage that matters deeply to us now when so many places and their birds are threatened or already gone.
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The Cuckoo's Lea 9781399412070 Hardback
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An absolute joy to own!
The artwork is exquisite and makes the book feel like something you'd find in Dumbledore's office! (Sorry, Harry Potter reference there!) The writing is charming and gently allows you to visualize it yourself while giving you enough information to gather a sort of scenery. Sublime and s…
The artwork is exquisite and makes the book feel like something you'd find in Dumbledore's office! (Sorry, Harry Potter reference there!) The writing is charming and gently allows you to visualize it yourself while giving you enough information to gather a sort of scenery. Sublime and something I would definitely recommend.'
- Authors:
- Warren, Michael J.
- Year Published:
- 2025
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Format:
- Hardback
- ISBN:
- 9781399412070
- Number of Pages:
- 304
- Publication Date:
- 05/06/2025
- Publisher:
- Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Language:
- English
- Place of Publication:
- London
- Illustrations Note:
- 1 black and white map.
- SKU:
- 9781399412070