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Birds & People Hardcover – September 1, 2013

by Mark Cocker (Author), David Tipling (Photographer)

4.6 107 ratings

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The definitive groundbreaking book on the relationship between birds and humankind, with contributions from more than 600 bird enthusiasts from all over the world Part natural history and part cultural study, this book describes and maps the entire spectrum of human engagements with birds, drawing in themes of history, literature, art, cuisine, language, lore, politics, and the environment. Vast in both scope and scale, it draws upon Mark Cocker's 40 years of observing and thinking about birds to celebrate this relationship. The book is as important for its visual riches as it is for its groundbreaking content, as one of Europe's best wildlife photographers has traveled in 39 countries on seven continents to produce a breathtaking and unique collection of photographs. The author solicited contributions from people worldwide, and personal anecdotes and stories have come from more than 600 individuals of 81 different nationalities, ranging from university academics to Mongolian eagle hunters, and from Amerindian shamans to highly celebrated writers. The sheer multitude of voices in this global chorus means that it is both a source book on why we cherish birds and a powerful testament to their importance for all humanity. Endorsed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Birdlife International.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Birds have been important in human cultures from earliest times. That continues today with the popularity of birding (bird-watching) and the rise of ecotourism around the world. There are approximately 10,500 bird species in the world, and many of them have significant relationships to people—food, recreation, art, origin stories, research, and religion, to name a few. Hundreds of birders from around the world flocked together to assist Cocker via stories and observations, building this fascinating compilation of significant human-bird relationships. Entries represent 146 bird families, while another 59 families with no known cultural importance are listed in an appendix. Tipling’s photographs (and others) supplement the text with beautiful images and informative content. This is both a reference book and a book to be read for enjoyment. The quotations, extensive bibliography, detailed endnotes, and indexes (species and general) provide access beyond the family-group arrangement of the text. Readers will learn fascinating facts: humans have long adorned themselves with feathers and imitated avian dances; swallow nests near homes are symbols of natural blessings in many countries; rollers have capitalized on human structures as perches from which to hunt insects. This thoughtful and handsome book records many of the stories that bind humans and birds together in the environment they share. Recommended for most public and academic libraries. --Linda Scarth

Review

"Plenty of books tell us how birds live and what they look and sound like, but none has ever told us as well or so beautifully how we have co-evolved with them or what those birds have meant and mean to us. . . . It is, indeed, an astonishing achievement. I feel I could live from its pages for years: they are rich and sustaining and magically suggestive at the same time. Reading them, you just might find yourself growing your own pair of wings." —BBC Wildlife Magazine

"A delightful duet between nature writer Mark Cocker and wildlife photographer David Tipling." —Nature

"If ever a book was timely, it is this gorgeously produced 600-page compendium of ornithological facts, images, myths and narratives . . . A celebration of birdlife, informed by that mixed sense of wonder and careful inquiry that Cocker has called 'the poetry of fact.'" —New Statesman

"Written with grace, conscientious stewardship and unfettered love, the book is a transformative look at the feathered dinosaurs that, despite all we have done to them, still grace our fields, forests and skies . . . an encyclopedia with a heart." —Julie Zickefoose, Wall Street Journal

"Packed with beauty, curiosity, fascination and wonder on every page, Birds & People is probably best not wolfed down but savoured bit by bit. It is a truly exceptional work, soaring in its scope, boundless in its interest, with an ambition matched only by its achievement . . . [it] strikes me as the sort of masterpiece that only comes along once or twice a decade." —Mail on Sunday

"Birds & People is primarily a way of looking at our own complex history, through the prism of nature. It is also a beautiful volume, not least because of David Tipling's excellent photographs . . . The results are stunning." —Sunday Telegraph

"An inexhaustibly rich collection of ornithology, folklore, and etymology that will appear to more than just bird lovers ... One simply runs out of superlatives appraising this title. From its glorious photography to its astonishingly wide frame of cultural references, this book will long resonate with readers." —Library Journal, starred review

"Focusing on our plumed friends' role in folklore, mythology, and menus, this book beautifully captures a centuries-old interspecies relationship." — mental_floss

"...fascinating read." —The Guardian US

"...groundbreaking." —The BirdBooker Report

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Cape; First Edition (September 1, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 704 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0224081748
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0224081740
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.87 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 1.8 x 11.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,496,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,048 in Bird Field Guides
- #12,130 in Historical Study (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 107 ratings

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David Tipling
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Mark Cocker
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MARK COCKER is an author of creative non-fiction, an environmental campaigner, a passionate naturalist and tutor for Scotland's Creative Writing Centre Moniack Mhor, He writes and broadcasts on nature and wildlife in a variety of national media and in 2023 he releases a new book One Midsummer's Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth (Cape). 2023 also marks his 35th year as a contributor to the Guardian country diary.
His 12 other books encompass works of biography, history, literary criticism and memoir. His last, A Claxton Diary: Further Field Notes from a Small Planet won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2019. An earlier book Our Place: Can We Save Britain's Wildlife Before It Is Too Late (Vintage 2019) was shortlisted for the Thwaites Wainwright Prize and the Richard Jefferies Prize. His book Crow Country was shorlisted for several awards, including the Samuel Johnson Prize, and won the New Angle Prize (2009). In 2016 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of East Anglia, where he has recently placed his archive.
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4.6 out of 5

107 global ratings

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5/0

Superlative !!

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2013

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“Birds and People” by Mark Cocker

It is difficult to praise this book highly enough.
Divide the world’s birds into chapters by families; to each chapter add positively beautiful photos, then add well-researched discussion and a wealth of unique field observations about the members of the family, spice the chapters with the lore, mythology, superstition and relationships with humans since Antiquity, slip in interviews about birds with Aristotle, Pliny, Shakespeare, White, Audubon, Franklin, Wilson, Thoreau, Bent, Peterson and nearly all the naturalists, philosophers, and poets in between, and add touches of the world famous British irony and wit….. and you will have an idea of how enlightening, entertaining, and fascinating this big (500+ pages 8x11”), beautiful masterpiece is.
And don’t think it is just a “picture book” for the coffee table – it’s not. It provides a gold mine of readable, informative, expert discussion. Plus you’ll learn which bird will tell you how long until you are married and which bird spends its’ winters on the moon.

15 people found this helpful

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C. Templeton

Wonderful book

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2014

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I waited what seemed a long time for this book to come out in ebook and I finally saw it this week. If you like birds this book is a must. Great layout and photos. Don't bother if you have a monochrome kindle or read it in kindle for PC.

3 people found this helpful

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Hawkish

The defining of relationships people and the avian community have to be both uplifting and exceptionally sad, almost grim in som

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2015

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Epic in its scope. The defining of relationships people and the avian community have to be both uplifting and exceptionally sad, almost grim in some places of the world. Excellent read, terrific photos, well thought out text.

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Amateur Naturalist

Great Book, Impossibly Tiny Print

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2014

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This book is masterful in many ways. It is a five star work, beautiful and original. I have virtually nothing but praise except for the print size. I am in my mid seventies and cannot enjoy reading it for more than a few minutes at a time. Clearly the publisher faced a dilemma: whether to publish as two volumes or one. The number of illustrations and amount of information, all essential, could not be reduced.

8 people found this helpful

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Carol Ross

Exquisite book, fascinating approach

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2014

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This book looks at human interaction and fascination with birds and presents art, history, social context for a variety of birds. It is not your traditional bird book, and I am not a birder. So we got along!

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2013

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This is an amazing book - packed with fascinating information. That's about all I can say at this point - haven't read every word, but have flipped through and sampled.

4 people found this helpful

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ernest carpenter

purchased as a gift for a bird lover - she ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2015

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purchased as a gift for a bird lover - she thanks me every month for the gift - I may have to get one for myself

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2014

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Birds & People who hunt with these special birds. The Birds are raise by the Hunters. So different from other "hunters" who used the birds.

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Top reviews from other countries

Sathyanarayan

Must To Have

Reviewed in India on December 21, 2019

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Lovely Book to read

Cassandra

Birds @ People is a sheer delight

Reviewed in Canada on April 11, 2014

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This book is one to be sipped and savoured. Full of wonderful photographs and lots of very interesting text too, there is something interesting on every page. All birding book lovers will want this book, and want to give it to their friends too. I highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

mia

A book for any civilised birder

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2013

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This book arrived a few days ago and I have to admit that I have not read all the 400,000+ words, but I don't have to, to be able to tell you that this is a fantastic book.

It is a book to dip into for knowledge and pleasure. I have dipped into some of those places where I know something, to see what the author had to say, and haven't been disappointed. And when you dip, you will find that the next entry keeps your attention and makes you keep reading with pleasure. Hours can pass in this way if you aren't strict about rationing yourself.

You can spend a lot of time just looking at the pictures - and you shouldn't feel bad about that. David Tipling's photographs add a lot to a marvellous book.

This book will not go on my bookshelf - it will move around the house with me so that I can dip and sample and taste and peruse. It should have been published when the days are shorter, the nights are longer and an open fire is welcoming. At the moment it is too great a distraction from going out looking at birds and butterflies.

I have, even with only little sips of the oceans of knowledge contained within these pages, learned quite a few things. Did you know about the chalk kiwi at Bulford - I didn't and I was surprised that I didn't? I knew a little of the Yawar festivals of the Andes, and the roles of condors and bulls, but I was glad to learn more.

Mark Cocker is a friend of mine and his conversation is laced with the knowledge and anecdotes that make this book so enjoyable. I believe him when he writes that it would be possible to write twenty times as much as is contained within these pages. I'd love to see the accounts that had to be excised for this book to be manageable. I'd love to see a second volume in a few years time.

At the Amazon price it is phenomenal value for money - cheaper per page than almost any bird book I know - and so valuable in terms of giving more pleasure per page than most bird books I know.

Birds and People by Mark Cocker is published by Jonathan Cape and is available on Amazon as is Mark Avery's book Fighting for Birds.

33 people found this helpful

paul donnelly

Information beyond a normal fieldguide.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2023

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Easy to pick out interesting bits of information about a subject that could be added during conversations.

shivashish ghosh

Five Stars

Reviewed in India on May 1, 2017

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