Was Beethoven a Birdwatcher?: A Quirky Look at Birds in History and Culture

by David Turner

An engaging guide that illustrates the significance of birds throughout history Did the Cettia's Warbler inspire the opening notes of the last movement of Beethoven's Second Symphony? Who among a host of rivals wrote the best poem about the nightingale? And is there a James Bond film named after a duck? Find out the answers to these ornithological conundrums and others in this engaging book that delves into literature, science, religion, fine art, and popular culture to reveal how a bird can be far more than the sum of its feathered, winged, and webbed parts. Worshipped as gods and damned as agents of the devil in equal measure, birds have also fostered scientific breakthroughs and even helped provoke a war. This entertaining guide is full of fascinating insights into the humble bird's surprisingly large role in history and culture.

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Nature, Natural History

289 pages, ebook

First published May 9, 2011

Reviews

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly delightful and fascinating read . I rationed myself to reading about 1 or 2 birds at a time because this really is a book you want to go in dipping into time and time again. Turner writes with a light and often humorous touch. He encourages the reader to take heart in the resilience of many species to adapt, vary their habitat and come back from the brink. And there are a surprising number of success stories in this book. Turner gently encourages his readers to develop their bird awareness and so begin to actively contribute to making the bit of the environment they have control over more bird friendly.

[Dilek Geçit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bir kuş gozlemcisi icin harika nefis bir kitap. Bir solukta okuyorsun. Bu yıl en severek okuduğum kitap.

[K. Morral · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fabulous, fascinating and beautifully written book exploring how birdlife has influenced our own lives - from our speech, to our obsessive behaviour and even politics. There are some fabulous turns of phrase...my particular favourites include 'Let's praise one of the most gifted incompetent in the history of humanity' ... 'just listen to the testimony of any bored office worker who has dismantled a ballpoint pen, only to lose a crucial part under the desk before having put it back together again.'

As well as introducing some interesting bird species, other well known species are discussed and a range of topics touched upon such as the difference between bird watching and twitching, the obsession for list ticking, environmental change, and human impact on bird life. Interestingly, a number of the bird specific essays (which are used in lieu of chapters) only seem to spend a sentence or two on the bird itself. Sometimes this is slightly disappointing. Also, for a bird book there are notably few images, which is also slightly disappointing.

But brilliantly written, illuminating giving us lots to think about.

[Niall Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books is brilliant. I’m not a hardcore birdwatcher, nor am I a twitcher, but I do enjoy bird watching. The short essays in this book capture the essence of each bird and take a whistle stop tour into some history, some culture, some science and a little bit of personal anecdote. The essays are written well, with just the right amount of humour.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself making notes and highlights to return to in future. Highly recommend even if it is a little bit out of date from a tech perspective*.

*some passages refer to blackberry phones being the perfect way to share birding news, and completely lacks any reference to more modern birding practices.

[Snoakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining whizz around the world of birds by an author who is very knowledgeable about his subject. The chapters are individual essays about a particular bird. Sometimes the entire essay is about that species, sometime David Turner uses it as a springboard to meander through other topics - other species of birds, history, etymology, the arts among many others. It's packed with fascinating trivia, is entertaining, very readable and as a bonus there are some beautiful illustrations.
Recommended for anyone who likes the outdoors and wildlife - it's definitely not just for birders.

[Vira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to mention that I'm not very educated about birds. I don't know their names in my native Ukrainian, so I hardly learned their English names after reading this book. Even tough, it was a very interesting reading.

The book is a collection of essays, each with a certain bird in title but telling a story about some peculiar aspect about the bird itself or its history. Or human influence. (Never forget about humans. They can provide some shitty influence.)

I'll go read another book about birds.

[Kelly Mander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains some really interesting facts and stories about birds, however I found myself less interested in the non British birds because I can't really relate to them. Liked the "essay" style format too. Perfect bedtime reading to read a few at the end of a long day.

[Cat Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at humans and birds.

[İzzet Erten · Rating 4 out of 5]

çok güzel kitap, ama Türkçe çevirisi facia, İng. okunmalı.

[Murat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bazı kuş isimleri yanlış çevrilmiş olsa da, birbirinden bağımsız küçük hikayelerle okumaya değer.

[Melissa Salsgiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the read. Learned quirky things about various birds and loved the tongue in cheek humor. Although mainly focused on Briton it ws a nice read.

[Henry Watson-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of short essays about the cultural and historical impacts of birds - incredibly me and a big part of my dissertation