A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching. Cet article n’est pas disponible.A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching

These days the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) has over a million active members. Watching birds is one of the most popular of all leisure pursuits. For many people it offers a tranquil day out at a picturesque nature reserve with a nice tea shop; for many more - the fabled "twitchers" beloved of media jokes - it is a fiercely competitive sport that requires a pager, a fast car and enormous stamina. It is a hobby that has spawned a big and lucrative industry, to supply anything from birding holidays in South America to state-of-the-art telescopes and even bird-call ringtones for a mobile phone. Kenneth Clarke is a birdwatcher; so, apparently, is Jarvis Cocker. Why, and how, have people watched birds through the ages? Stephen Moss's book traces the history and development of this singular pastime, on both sides of the Atlantic, all the way from Gilbert White, the country parson who wrote "The Natural History of Selborne" in the 18th century, through the British servicemen who studied Black Redstarts from their German prisoner-of-war camp, to today's driven "life-listers" and twisters who think nothing of hurtling the length of the UK by planes, automobiles and even boats in pursuit of a Grey-Tailed Tattler temporarily landfallen in the Shetland Isles.

A wonderful book... beautifully told. He packs his pages with fascinating, often hilarious anecdotes and information. A social history which is a surprise and a delight Val Hennessy, Daily Mail Critic s Choice

Scholarly, authoritative and above all supremely readable, Stephen Moss s book is the first to trace the fascinating history of how and why people have watched birds for pleasure, from the beginnings with Gilbert White in the eighteenth century through World War Two POWs watching birds from inside their prison camp all the way to today s twitchers with their bleeping pagers, driving hundreds of miles for a rare tick.

Thoroughly researched and well-written Mark Crocker, Guardian

Moss knows his subject intimately and writes about it with just the right mixture of affection and occasional quizzicality Jonathan Bate, Sunday Telegraph

It would be difficult to imagine anyone producing a more comprehensive, thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining examination of how people have watched birds at each point in history. In fact, it is one of the few books which might prove such compulsive reading that even a dedicated twitcher might forego a day in the field to stay at home to finish it Bryan Bland, Birding World