Flight from Grace: A Cultural History of Humans and Birds

by Richard Pope

Human animals are despoiling nature and causing a sixth extinction on Earth. Our natural environment is being compromised, and birds and other animals are disappearing at an alarming rate. Flight from Grace does not so much reveal the extent of the damage as ask and answer the perplexing question: why? This book traces human reverence for birds from the Stone Age and the New Stone Age, through the cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Peru, and Greece and through biblical traditions, up to its vestiges in the present. Richard Pope takes a hard look at Judaeo-Christian and ancient Greek thought to demonstrate how the emergence of anthropocentrism and belittling of nature led to our present-day ecological dilemma. Striking images of cultural artifacts -- many little-known -- together with extensive discussion of art, music, literature, and religion illustrate the paradox in our contemporary relationship to the natural world. Humanity, in moving from its paleolithic origins to modern times, has simultaneously distanced itself from and disenchanted nature. Suggesting that the replacement of an animistic worldview with a mechanistic one has led humans to deny their animality, Flight from Grace calls on readers to appreciate how our past relationship with birds might help transform our current relationship with nature.

304 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2021

About the author

Richard Pope is a birder and life-long naturalist who taught Russian literature, culture and history before retiring. He writes historical fiction about the fur trade, the voyageurs, and the First World War.

Reviews

[Patricia Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book with a well researched section on Paleolithic depictions of birds found in caves and carved on bone and ivory. Showing the sacredness of birds and connection with the Divine going back tens of thousands of years. And an ecological message that animists, indigenous people and Pagans will appreciate.

[Emily Posthumus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the cultural history would have been a bit better if it was more focused and less broad, but still really interesting. Flight from Grace ends with an accurate and honest overview of the current ecological situation and future of birds in our world.