New Titles

 

1) Lee, Cin-Ty and Andrew Birch. Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees. 2023. Princeton University Press. Flexibound: 157 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The identification of Empidonax flycatchers and pewees can be a daunting challenge for even the most seasoned birder. Field Guide to North American Flycatchers takes bird identification to an entirely new level by training readers to observe subtle differences in structure, color patterns, and vocalizations before delving into the finer details of a particular species. Because the plumages of flycatchers are so similar, this one-of-a-kind guide uses illustrations that highlight slight variances among species that photos often miss. One of the last frontiers of bird identification is now accessible to everyone―once one knows what to look for.

• Uses a holistic approach that makes flycatcher identification possible even for beginners
• Features a wealth of beautiful illustrations that depict every species in North America
• Shows how to observe subtle differences in structure, plumage contrasts, and vocalizations, which together create a distinctive overall impression of the bird
• Includes detailed audio spectrograms and seasonal distribution maps for each species
• Shares invaluable tips for successful identification in all kinds of field settings
• Its compact size and field-friendly layout make it the ideal travel companion for any birder. 

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST have for anyone birding North America!

 

 

2) Howell, Steve N. G. and Dale Dyer. Birds of Belize. 2023. Princeton University Press. Flexibound: 304 pages. Price: $35.00 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Belize is one of the world’s premier birding destinations, home to a marvelous array of tropical birds and beautiful habitats ranging from verdant rain forests and extensive wetlands to rolling pine savannas and the country’s famed barrier reef. Birds of Belize is the essential illustrated pocket guide to this birder’s paradise. It covers all regularly occurring bird species found in the region and features facing-page plates and text that make field identification easy. Concise species accounts describe everything from size and distribution to voice, habitat, and status. This compact guide also features progressive taxonomy and a wealth of color range maps.

• Covers more than 500 species of birds found in Belize
• Includes 116 superb color plates
• Features concise species accounts, facing-page plates and text, and up-to-date range maps
• Its compact size and field-friendly layout make it the ideal travel companion for any birder

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST have for anyone birding Belize!

 

 

 

3) Dwarshuis, Arjan. The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record. 2023. Chelsea Green. Paperback: 238 pages. Price: $22.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: An epic tale of one passionate birder’s record-breaking adventure through 40 countries over 6 continents―in just one year―to see 6,852 bird species, rare and common, before many go extinct.

     When Arjan Dwarshuis first heard of the “Big Year”―the legendary record for birdwatching―he was twenty years old, it was midnight, and he was sitting on the roof of a truck in the Andean Mountains. In that moment he promised himself that, someday, somehow, he would become a world-record-holding birder.

     Ten years later, he embarked on an incredible, arduous, and perilous journey that took him around the globe; over uninhabited islands, through dense unforgiving rainforests, across snowy mountain peaks and unrelenting deserts―in just a single year. Would he survive? Would he be able to break the “Big Year” record, navigating through a world filled with shifting climate and geopolitical challenges?

     The (Big) Year that Flew By is an unforgettable, personal exploration of the limits of human potential when engaging with the natural world. It is a book about birds and birding and Arjan’s attempts to raise awareness for critically endangered species, but it is also a book about overcoming mental challenges, extreme physical danger, and human competition and fully realizing your passions through nature, adventure, and conservation.

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must read for all world birders!

 

 4) Milton, Nicholas. The Role of Birds in World War One: How Ornithology Helped to Win the Great War. 2022. Pen and Sword History. Hardbound: 232 pages. Price: $42.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The British Expeditionary Force sent to France in the late summer of 1914 has been referred to as ‘The Best British Army Ever Sent to War’ as it was one of the most highly trained and disciplined forces in the world. It was also the ‘Best Birdwatching Army Ever Sent to War’ for among its ranks were hundreds of both amateur and professional ornithologists. When not fighting many soldiers turned to birdwatching as a way of wiling away the long hours spent on guard duty or watching over ‘no man's land’. As a result, the hobby ranked as one of the most popular past-times for soldiers at the front, on a par with smoking, writing, games, gambling, sport and shooting rats. The list of birds seen by soldiers serving in all the theaters of war was truly impressive ranging from the common like sparrows, skylarks and swallows to the exotic like golden orioles, hoopoes and bee-eaters.

     It was not just at the battle front that birds found themselves in the firing line but also on the home front. Birds provided inspiration for politicians, poets and painters who carried on despite the terrible conflict raging all around them. For the Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, who worked tirelessly to preserve peace but ended up convincing the House of Commons to go to war, birds were his hinterland. But as well as declaring war on Germany on 4 August 1914 the government also declared war on the humble house sparrow, farmers falsely accusing it of destroying Britain’s dwindling wheat and oat supplies.

     When the guns finally fell silent on the 11 November 1918 and the Great War came to an ignoble end, a generation of birdwatchers lay dead. Among them were scientists, researchers, lords, librarians, artists, authors, professors, poets, lawyers, surgeons and explorers, many barely having entered manhood. If they had lived the science of ornithology and the hobby of birdwatching would have undoubtedly been much the richer. A selection of them is included in the Ornithological Roll of honor at the back of this book.

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must read for anyone with an interest in ornithological history and/or World War One. 

 

5) Brown, Linda R. and Josef Kren (editors). Remembering Paul Johnsgard. 2023. Zea Books. Paperback: 161 pages. Price: $29.00 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Paul A. Johnsgard (1931-2021) was a friend of many, an artist, prolific author, teacher, and humble admirer of all living creatures. It was impossible to find someone at Nebraska Audubon Society or Nebraska Ornithologists' Union meetings who did not know Paul Johnsgard. His more than 100 published books made him known not just in a community of ornithologists, birdwatchers, and bird lovers in the United States but also abroad. He was a world-renowned ornithologist and naturalist who remained deeply embedded in his local culture and its prairie environment. We invited about 75 people to write a short memory of Paul. We received about 40 responses, which are published in this book, along with Paul Johnsgard's own writing on his life.

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must read for anyone with an interest in Paul Johnsgard's life.

 

6) Sirois Collins, Cindi and Asher Elbein. Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals of Big Bend. 2023. University of Texas Press. Paperback: 226 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The sheer beauty of Big Bend National Park, along the shores of the Rio Grande in west Texas, never fails to astonish. Yet what lies beneath this natural treasure may be even more extraordinary than what meets the eye. Hidden in the rocks of Big Bend are the remains of giants: toothy sea lizards, enormous flying reptiles, and dinosaurs.

     Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals of Big Bend is a field guide to what once was. Inspired by the latest research, Cindi Sirois Collins and Asher Elbein imagine what it was like to walk among the plants and animals whose fossil remains tell the story of evolution and geological transformation in this singular landscape. We glimpse the drama of Big Bend’s rugged landscape in creation—the desert’s emergence from retreating oceans and volcanic eruptions. Immersive vignettes introduce dinosaurs, giant fish, and saber-toothed cats. And the history of discovery in the park proves a gripping tale, as paleontologists sifted major scientific insights from the soils, rocks, and riverbeds. Complete with vivid illustrations, this is a wholly original sensory and narrative experience that will deepen any reader’s knowledge and sense of wonder. 

RECOMMENDATION: The artwork by Julius Csotonyi highlights this book! 

 

7) Francovich, Eli. The Return of Wolves: An Iconic Predator’s Struggle to Survive in the American West. 2023. Timber Press. Hardbound: 256 pages. Price: $28.00 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Uncover on-the-ground reporting on the conflict between conservationists, ranchers, and an iconic predator—and discover the solution that might appease them all.

      The Gray Wolf has made an astonishing comeback in Washington. Nearly eradicated by the 1990s, conservationists and environmentalists have cheered its robust return to the state over the last two decades. But Washington ranchers are not so joyous. When wolves prey on livestock, ranchers view their livelihood as under attack.

      In The Return of Wolves, journalist Eli Francovich investigates how we might mend this divide while keeping wolf populations thriving. He finds an answer in the time-honored tradition of range riding and one passionate range rider, Daniel Curry, who has jumped directly into the fray by patrolling the rural Washington landscape on horseback. Curry engages directly with farmers, seeking to protect livestock from wolves while also protecting and proliferating wolf populations. In The Return of Wolves, we meet an eclectic cast of players—local ranchers, politicians, environmentalists, and everyday folks caught in the middle—and find hope for the future of wolves, and perhaps for our divided nation.

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must read for anyone with an interest in wolf conservation.

 

8) Lee, Fonda. Untethered Sky. 2023. Tordotcom. Hardbound: 152 pages. Price: $22.99 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky, an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.

     Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.

     Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.

RECOMMENDATION: Fans of the author's other books should enjoy this one! 

 

 

Books by Adrienne Mayor

 

The following books by Adrienne Mayor were published by Princeton University Press. Of these five, the two fossil ones are my favorites.  

1) Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities. 2022. Paperback: 420 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights―glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth―embedded in myth, legends, and folklore. Combing through ancient texts and obscure sources, she has spent decades prospecting for intriguing wonders and marvels, historical mysteries, diverting anecdotes, and hidden gems from ancient, medieval, and modern times. Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws is a treasury of fifty of her most amazing and amusing discoveries.

     The book explores such subjects as how mirages inspired legends of cities in the sky; the true identity of winged serpents in ancient Egypt; how ghost ships led to the discovery of the Gulf Stream; and the beauty secrets of ancient Amazons. Other pieces examine Arthur Conan Doyle’s sea serpent and Geronimo’s dragon; Flaubert’s obsession with ancient Carthage; ancient tattooing practices; and the strange relationship between wine goblets and women’s breasts since the times of Helen of Troy and Marie Antoinette. And there’s much, much more.

     Showcasing Mayor’s trademark passion not to demythologize myths, but to uncover the fascinating truths buried beneath them, Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws is a wonder cabinet of delightful curiosities.

 

2) Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Unconventional Warfare in the Ancient World. 2022. Paperback: 384 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. In this riveting history of the origins of unconventional war, Adrienne Mayor shows that cultures around the world have used biological and chemical weapons for thousands of years―and debated the morality of doing so. Drawing extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism, this richly illustrated history catapults readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery. Updated, revised, lavishly illustrated new edition.

 

3) The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. 2014 (2016). Paperback: 519 pages. Price: $17.95 U.S. 

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Amazons―fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world―were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons.

     But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China.

     Mayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. Provocatively arguing that a timeless search for a balance between the sexes explains the allure of the Amazons, Mayor reminds us that there were as many Amazon love stories as there were war stories. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons―Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China.

     Driven by a detective's curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. The result is likely to become a classic.

 

4) Fossil Legends of the First Americans. 2005 (2023). Paperback: 446 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The burnt-red badlands of Montana's Hell Creek are a vast graveyard of the Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived 68 million years ago. Those hills were, much later, also home to the Sioux, the Crows, and the Blackfeet, the first people to encounter the dinosaur fossils exposed by the elements. What did Native Americans make of these stone skeletons, and how did they explain the teeth and claws of gargantuan animals no one had seen alive? Did they speculate about their deaths? Did they collect fossils?

     Beginning in the East, with its Ice Age monsters, and ending in the West, where dinosaurs lived and died, this richly illustrated and elegantly written book examines the discoveries of enormous bones and uses of fossils for medicine, hunting magic, and spells. Well before Columbus, Native Americans observed the mysterious petrified remains of extinct creatures and sought to understand their transformation to stone. In perceptive creation stories, they visualized the remains of extinct mammoths, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and marine creatures as Monster Bears, Giant Lizards, Thunder Birds, and Water Monsters. Their insights, some so sophisticated that they anticipate modern scientific theories, were passed down in oral histories over many centuries.

     Drawing on historical sources, archaeology, traditional accounts, and extensive personal interviews, Adrienne Mayor takes us from Aztec and Inca fossil tales to the traditions of the Iroquois, Navajos, Apaches, Cheyennes, and Pawnees. Fossil Legends of the First Americans represents a major step forward in our understanding of how humans made sense of fossils before evolutionary theory developed.

 

5) The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times. 2000 (2023). Paperback: 361 pages. Price: $21.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The fascinating story of how the fossils of dinosaurs, mammoths, and other extinct animals influenced some of the most spectacular creatures of classical mythology

     Griffins, Centaurs, Cyclopes, and Giants―these fabulous creatures of classical mythology continue to live in the modern imagination through the vivid accounts that have come down to us from the ancient Greeks and Romans. But what if these beings were more than merely fictions? What if monstrous creatures once roamed the earth in the very places where their legends first arose? This is the arresting and original thesis that Adrienne Mayor explores in The First Fossil Hunters. Through careful research and meticulous documentation, she convincingly shows that many of the giants and monsters of myth did have a basis in fact―in the enormous bones of long-extinct species that were once abundant in the lands of the Greeks and Romans.

     As Mayor shows, the Greeks and Romans were well aware that a different breed of creatures once inhabited their lands. They frequently encountered the fossilized bones of these primeval beings, and they developed sophisticated concepts to explain the fossil evidence, concepts that were expressed in mythological stories. The legend of the gold-guarding griffin, for example, sprang from tales first told by Scythian gold-miners, who, passing through the Gobi Desert at the foot of the Altai Mountains, encountered the skeletons of Protoceratops and other dinosaurs that littered the ground.

     Like their modern counterparts, the ancient fossil hunters collected and measured impressive petrified remains and displayed them in temples and museums; they attempted to reconstruct the appearance of these prehistoric creatures and to explain their extinction. Long thought to be fantasy, the remarkably detailed and perceptive Greek and Roman accounts of giant bone finds were actually based on solid paleontological facts. By reading these neglected narratives for the first time in the light of modern scientific discoveries, Adrienne Mayor illuminates a lost world of ancient paleontology.