"An unusual and beautiful wander through the world of birds, as seen by the author as he looks at history, the art world, and the difficulties birds face today."
Diving through history and soaring across borders this truly fascinating book about birds was winner of the readers’ vote in Poland’s most prestigious literary prize, the Nike Award. Author Stanislaw Lubienski first began to observe birds as a child, he explores how people and art (stories, paintings, music, and dance) interact with birds. While he has always lived in and around his home town of Szczesliwice, his love for birds has taken him in person and in his thoughts around the world and back in time. I picked up my love for birds through my father, at home as a child we looked after some blind pheasants he had rescued, once he even nursed a particularly ill-tempered seagull back to health. So, I smiled at the story of James Bond, winced in sympathy as I heard how the photo of the eagle owl was taken, and my heart ached at the Last of the Curlews. A little bit different and a lot lovely, The Birds they Sang has crept into my heart to become a Liz Robinson Pick of the Month.
Birds have inspired people since the dawn of time. They are the notes behind Mozart's genius, the colours behind Audubon's art and ballet's swansong.
In The Birds They Sang, Stanislaw Lubienski sheds light on some of history's most meaningful bird and human interactions, from historical bird watchers in a German POW camp, to Billy and Kes in A Kestrel for a Knave. He muses on what exactly Hitchcock's birds had in mind, and reveals the true story behind the real James Bond. Undiscouraged by damp, discomfort and a reed bunting's curse, Lubienski bears witness to the difficulties birds face today as people fail to accommodate them in rapidly changing times.
A soaring exploration of our fascination with birds, The Birds They Sang opens a vast realm of astonishing sounds, colours and meanings - a complete world in which we humans are never alone.
'An enchanting and thought-provoking mix of close observation of birds and cultural history, told with a new and refreshing perspective.' Stephen Moss
'An original and delightful book - intelligent and tender. Stanislaw Lubienski is a warm-hearted guide, at once modest and passionate, funny and quizzical, and always brilliant on his birds.' Tim Dee
'A real balm to the soul' Jackie Morris, winner of Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 for The Lost Words
Author
About Stanislaw Lubienski
Stanislaw Lubienski is an esteemed ornithologist and writer. A regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, he is the co-author of a series of films about the life of migrants in Poland. The Birds They Sang won the readers' vote for the 2017 Nike Literary Award, Poland's most prestigious literary prize.
