The sub title of this book is a Celebration of Birds in Human History. The problem with that is that the authors used only a fraction of the sources at their disposal. Time and time again they quoted from Shakespeare, Chaucer, various British poets, and the Bible. The favororitism shown towards British writers was bad enough but the absurdly ridiculous amount of silly superstitious religious references was at times insulting. I bought this book hoping to be educated on birds. Most of the time, I felt like I was being preached to. ( )

An informative little volume, Winged Wonders: A Celebration of Birds in Human History by Peter Watkins and Jonathan Stockland, is appropriate for nature and history lovers alike. Divided into chapters for each different bird species, such as the raven, the goose and the falcon, this is a treasure trove of history about birds and their influence on the language and actions of mankind.

Though short, this is definitely not a book to be read in one sitting. There is a grand amount of information that takes some time to appreciate, absorb and remember. It's heavy on religious symbolism and biblical references which is no surprise as one of the authors, Watkins, is an Anglican vicar. I love that the naturalist vicar, a common character in many a Victorian novel, still exists.

If you are curious about the origin of the phrase "cloud-cuckoo-land", are looking for avian poetry or are wanting to know about the surprisingly numerous instances of pelican symbolism, this is the perfect book for you.

http://webereading.com/2010/06/new-release-winged-wonders.html ( )