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A Wild Life: My Adventures Around the World Filming Wildlife
The frozen wastes of the Southern Ocean; the tropical rainforests of South America, the scorching grasslands of Africa, the dizzy heights of the snow-capped peaks of the Martin Hughes-Games has been to every continent on earth filming natural history programmes. A Wild Life is Martin's personal account of his astonishing adventures around the world, both as a presenter for the BBC and a producer of nature documentaries.
We all know Martin as a member of Springwatch and Autumnwatch team, but before his presenting days he spent many years behind the camera producing up-close-and-personal wildlife documentaries on location often in perilous conditions. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has captured the extraordinary life and diversity of the animal kingdom on film - from bloodthirsty bats and man-eating tigers, to huge elephant seals and tiny but ever so painful centipedes.
Warmly told with humour and an inimitable style, and packed with insightful facts from the natural world - how fast is the fastest creature on earth, the peregrine falcon? How high can a bird, the bar headed goose on migration, really fly? - A Wild Life has to be one of the natural history books of the year.
We all know Martin as a member of Springwatch and Autumnwatch team, but before his presenting days he spent many years behind the camera producing up-close-and-personal wildlife documentaries on location often in perilous conditions. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has captured the extraordinary life and diversity of the animal kingdom on film - from bloodthirsty bats and man-eating tigers, to huge elephant seals and tiny but ever so painful centipedes.
Warmly told with humour and an inimitable style, and packed with insightful facts from the natural world - how fast is the fastest creature on earth, the peregrine falcon? How high can a bird, the bar headed goose on migration, really fly? - A Wild Life has to be one of the natural history books of the year.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 25, 2015
The book was not what I was expecting but thoroughly enjoyable despite that. I was anticipating some sort of account of Martin Hughes-Games' life, how he got interested in wildlife and so on (I am always pathetically and pruriently interested in how people combine a passion with a personal life for example) Instead this is a series of chapters on various of his most vivid wildlife TV producing experiences. I wasn't sure how I was going to get on with this - I like his contribution to the phenomenon that is Springwatch and its spawn, one of the few TV offerings I will attempt to turn on for myself, but titles such as "Nature's Miraculous Babies" or "Wild and Dangerous" don't pull me in.
I have no desire whatsoever to be physically present in the Amazon, for example, but I do enjoy reading about the realities and gaining an appreciation of what goes into the making of TV wildlife programmes (a certain amount of sleight of hand in the 'magical' sometimes it turns out...) Unusually, Hughes-Games seems to have been able to take an overview of his book and the whole thing hangs together better than most works of its type. So there isn't the kind of repetition you so often get now, assuming that you must be dipping in or, in the case of TV, wouldn't be able to hold a thought for the duration of the adverts.
I have no desire whatsoever to be physically present in the Amazon, for example, but I do enjoy reading about the realities and gaining an appreciation of what goes into the making of TV wildlife programmes (a certain amount of sleight of hand in the 'magical' sometimes it turns out...) Unusually, Hughes-Games seems to have been able to take an overview of his book and the whole thing hangs together better than most works of its type. So there isn't the kind of repetition you so often get now, assuming that you must be dipping in or, in the case of TV, wouldn't be able to hold a thought for the duration of the adverts.
October 8, 2023
Like FINGERS IN THE SPARKLE JAR, this is another anecdotal volume from one of the SPRINGWATCH presenting team. Like FINGERS before it, it's not what I was expecting. Packham's book was a slice of prose poetry, heavy on physical description and short on fact. I thought A WILD LIFE would be an autobiography of the great and endearing Martin Hughes-Games, but he turns out to be as private an individual as Packham was, so you learn very little about the man himself.
Instead, this is a series of well-described animal encounters that took place when Martin worked as a producer for the BBC. He tours around the world, describing polar bears, wild dogs, tigers, and plenty more besides. His first-hand experiences are bolstered by amusing interviews with experts and plenty of facts and little-known figures about some of our planet's more interesting species. The format of the book makes this a little choppy at times, but it's generally light and readable, and Martin's inimitable voice shines through.
Instead, this is a series of well-described animal encounters that took place when Martin worked as a producer for the BBC. He tours around the world, describing polar bears, wild dogs, tigers, and plenty more besides. His first-hand experiences are bolstered by amusing interviews with experts and plenty of facts and little-known figures about some of our planet's more interesting species. The format of the book makes this a little choppy at times, but it's generally light and readable, and Martin's inimitable voice shines through.
July 9, 2017
It would appear that I find non-fiction stories far easier to read than non-fiction facts. At least, I found 'A Wild Life' far, far easier to sink my teeth into than Hannah Witton's 'Doing It'- although perhaps that's because animals have always been a passion of mine.
Put simply, 'A Wild Life' is a collection of 17 stories (experiences, really; Martin refers to them as chronicles) centred around producing wildlife documentaries. Being an avid watcher of both 'Springwatch' and 'Autumnwatch', I knew Martin as a presenter, but had not been familiar with any of his previous work as a producer/director, and it was fascinating to get into his head and catch a glimpse of all the behind the scenes work that goes into documentary making. I found it especially fascinating as I'm currently considering going into wildlife film-making myself someday.
Martin's writing style is incredibly accessible, blending a perfect mixture of humour, anecdotes, diary passages, facts and biological context, and gripping re-tellings of stories. And although I only dipped in and out of this book rather than blitzing through it like I would with a fictional novel, I am positive 'A Wild Life' has been the most entertaining book I've read all year.
Put simply, 'A Wild Life' is a collection of 17 stories (experiences, really; Martin refers to them as chronicles) centred around producing wildlife documentaries. Being an avid watcher of both 'Springwatch' and 'Autumnwatch', I knew Martin as a presenter, but had not been familiar with any of his previous work as a producer/director, and it was fascinating to get into his head and catch a glimpse of all the behind the scenes work that goes into documentary making. I found it especially fascinating as I'm currently considering going into wildlife film-making myself someday.
Martin's writing style is incredibly accessible, blending a perfect mixture of humour, anecdotes, diary passages, facts and biological context, and gripping re-tellings of stories. And although I only dipped in and out of this book rather than blitzing through it like I would with a fictional novel, I am positive 'A Wild Life' has been the most entertaining book I've read all year.
September 3, 2018
Well, Completely NOT what I was expecting to be honest, and as such, took me a chapter to get into it, but what a fascinating and funny collection of filming stories.
Martin- I cant wait to read more from you. I believe you may have another book in there - get it wrote and out there! Looking forward to your next offering.
Living in rural France I love my wildlife and Springwatch et al is a highlight when Im not chasing red squirrels out my walnut grove or watching deer cantering past my living room window to take a short cut home.
Martin- I cant wait to read more from you. I believe you may have another book in there - get it wrote and out there! Looking forward to your next offering.
Living in rural France I love my wildlife and Springwatch et al is a highlight when Im not chasing red squirrels out my walnut grove or watching deer cantering past my living room window to take a short cut home.
March 7, 2018
Having watched Martin on Springwatch for many years, you can really sense his enthusiasm and passion for wildlife bursting within the pages. He has had some utterly incredible experiences all over the world whilst filming, and he's an excellent storyteller - very funny. It took me a couple of chapters to truly get into it, but I was hooked after not long. Highly recommended for anyone interested in nature / wildlife filming.
September 14, 2018
Really enjoyed this, brought this after seeing him at the theatre. Interesting collection of short true stories. A nice Read.
November 23, 2019
I liked this book for the first few chapters, then found myself putting it down slightly bored.
The author lacks the ability to keep the reader interested for much of the book, but I persevered
The author lacks the ability to keep the reader interested for much of the book, but I persevered
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2016
Most of us take for granted the ability to see wildlife on TV and I for one rarely think about the lengths to which people must go to get the extraordinary footage.
This book is a real eye-opener on the subject, combining a very enjoyable memoire/travelogue, with fascinating tips-of-the-trade and assorted wildlife facts. TV wildlife producer, Martin Hughes-Games takes us through his far from ordinary life creating and gathering footage to amaze us. From how to stage a realistic car crash following a spider incident, to simulating a crocodile’s death roll, and how to track polar bears across miles of icy wastes – I gleaned far, far more.
This is a fascinating book on how to manage not only unruly wildlife, but also film crews, actors and presenters.
A great read
This book is a real eye-opener on the subject, combining a very enjoyable memoire/travelogue, with fascinating tips-of-the-trade and assorted wildlife facts. TV wildlife producer, Martin Hughes-Games takes us through his far from ordinary life creating and gathering footage to amaze us. From how to stage a realistic car crash following a spider incident, to simulating a crocodile’s death roll, and how to track polar bears across miles of icy wastes – I gleaned far, far more.
This is a fascinating book on how to manage not only unruly wildlife, but also film crews, actors and presenters.
A great read
June 19, 2015
An enjoyable read.
I suspect Martin is a private sort of fellow so there is very little personal detail in this book. It is focused on his work as a producer of wild life shows.
I confess to only really knowing him as a co-presenter of Springwatch so this aspect of his career was interesting. As far as I recollect there is nothing about Springwatch in it, perhaps that will be the subject of another book (here's hoping).
I suspect Martin is a private sort of fellow so there is very little personal detail in this book. It is focused on his work as a producer of wild life shows.
I confess to only really knowing him as a co-presenter of Springwatch so this aspect of his career was interesting. As far as I recollect there is nothing about Springwatch in it, perhaps that will be the subject of another book (here's hoping).
April 15, 2016
I loved this book! It is funny, educational and scary. You can read my review 'In bed with a monster' here.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews