Almost uniquely among modern ornithological literature, the book Birds Britannica explores not how birds live, but how we feel, think, respond, love, hate and live alongside this country's birdlife. It charts our historical fear of owls and our modern superstitions about magpies. It describes how we once hounded ospreys and eagles to extinction and have brought both back in modern times as icons of conservation. Ultimately, the book is as much about people as it is about an avifauna. In this richly illustrated evening talk, hear the book’s author Mark Cocker consider the historic bonds between the British and their feathered neighbours and answer why they play such a prominent role in our national life.
Mark Cocker is a multi-award-winning author whose books include Birds Britannica, Our Place – shortlisted for the Thwaites Wainwright and the Richard Jefferies Prizes – and Birds and People, a collaboration with photographer David Tipling, published to international acclaim. His book Crow Country won the New Angle Prize in 2009 and A Claxton Diary won the East Anglia Book Award in 2019. He lives in Derbyshire on the street where he was born.
- Featured in
- Art picks
