Falcon (Reaktion Books - Animal) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The 6o-odd species of the falcon family Falconidae superficially resemble but are probably only distantly related to the other diurnal birds of prey such as..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Peregrine Fund, Air Force (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lively and lovely series. . . . This delightful series gives us animals as both alien and familiar. . . . An exhilarating, often astonishing and sometimes moving series of monographs."-Globe and Mail (Martin Levin Globe and Mail 20060101)

"Marvellous book . . . sheer joy."--The Spectator (James Fleming The Spectator 20060521)

"Does not ignore natural history and falconry [and] also ranges over many other topics."--International Zoo News (Nicholas Gould International Zoo News 20070401)

"This beautifully designed book offers a natural history of this fastest of all the animals as well as the story of how these birds'' lives have long intertwined with those of humans."--Washington Post (Rachel Hartigan Shea Washington Post 20070427)

"Succeeds brilliantly . . . a smart, engaging, and multidisciplinary account that vividly brings her subject to life. . . . In addition to crisp, imaginative writing, Macdonald has a knack for choosing compelling details. . . . Offers an incisive cultural history of the falcon. . . . A rich and marvelous book, which will interest a wide variety of popular and scholarly audiences. Like its subject matter, Falcon truly soars."-Journal of the History of Biology (Mark V. Barrow, Jr. Journal of the History of Biology 20070427)

"This is a wonderful book. It is not a falconry text, nor is it a falcon biology or a conservation one. Macdonald''s slim volume is far more ambitious: it is an attempt to capture and indeed explain the essence of the falcon. This is simply a most beautifully considered social history of the genus Falco. . . . It informs and provokes in equal measure. . . . Macdonald writes beautifully and with a refreshing clarity."--The Falconer (The Falconer 20060101)

"What Macdonald does with Falcon is bring all of herself to the subject. She breathes life into the work; pulls the lives of falcons and people together into a rare three-dimensional portrait. The effect is beautiful and lasting."--North American Falconers Association (North American Falconers Association )

"While presenting the falcon as a creature superbly adapted to its environment, Macdonald''s scientific but lyrical study also celebrates its mythical, cultural and iconic significance."-Times (UK) (The Times (UK) )

Product Description

The fastest animal on earth, the falcon deserves attention not just for the combination of speed, power, beauty and ferocity that have made it an object of fascination for thousands of years, but for the light it sheds on the cultures through which it has flown. This book, bridging science and cultural history, surveys the practical and symbolic uses of falcons in human culture in new and exciting ways.

Helen Macdonald describes the complete history of the bird, ranging across the globe and over many millennia, as well as incorporating the latest scientific discoveries. There are chapters on falcon natural history; myth and legend; falconry; conservation; falcons in the military, in urban settings and the corporate world. Along the way the reader will discover how falcons were mobilized in secret military projects, their links with espionage, the Third Reich and the space programme, and how they’ve featured in erotic stories. The book explores their veneration as gods in Ancient Egypt, their role as cultural icons in the Middle East, and their recruitment by the advertising industry to promote all manner of products, from photocopiers to jet planes.

Falcon combines in-depth practical, personal and scientific knowledge of falcons with a strong analytical perspective on the place of these birds in human history. It will be enjoyed by specialists and non-specialists alike: lovers of the countryside, birdwatchers or anyone who has ever wondered why falcons are so compelling.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Reaktion Books (March 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861892381
• ISBN-13: 978-1861892386
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #985,522 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Portrait, June 22, 2006

By	Matthew R. Mullenix (Baton Rouge, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm too late to say the first nice thing about Helen Macdonald. Doubtless her writing----scholarly work, essays, and erudite poetry----have made heads nod and shake in amazement for years. Author Steve Bodio recently raved of this fellow writer and falconer: "Her blog posts are better than most essays published for money today. I just went through the latest New Yorker and there was nothing to compare with her best."

Agreed. With Falcon, her first book on birds, Helen Macdonald manages to make a lesser work of everyone else's treatment of the topic. That's a big claim: Many remarkable writers and scientists cover the field, but none I know have yet produced a book as smart, insightful, literate or original.

Billed by the publisher as a "cultural and natural history of the falcon," Falcon simply could not have been written by anyone else. Listed among Macdonald's fields of study at Jesus College, Cambridge (where she is a Research Fellow), are: "History of ecology, amateur natural history, biological field-sciences and field-sports/hunting in 20th Century cultures; history of conservation and ethology; history of biological warfare; war and nature." War and nature! There's depth of interest for you. I could add military aviation to the list, an area of expertise that finds its way often and effectively into the text:

"What of flight, the single most celebrated falcon characteristic? Falcon bodies are heavy in relation to their wing area...Their wings have a high aspect ratio----the ratio between the wingspan and the wing width----and their low-camber wings are long and pointed. The result is a low-drag confirmation more suited to active, flapping flight and fast gliding than soaring."

Adding poetry to physics, Macdonald describes a stooping falcon this way:

"At speeds of over 100 miles an hour, the minutest alterations to her body shape gave punishingly exaggerated effects; she looked, as Franklin later described, shrink-wrapped, mummified. And just as it seemed impossible for her to fall any faster, she'd change her shape again."

The military deployment (that's right: deployment) of trained falcons gets its own chapter in this uniquely well-rounded falcon book. Other sections examine the raptors' biology, conservation, and successful adaptations to urban life. Macdonald reserves one chapter for the looming mythical status of falcons throughout history. And of course, falconry receives special treatment. Our sport takes pride of place in the center of the book, skillfully tying its wide-ranging topics together.

Throughout the text you'll find surprising revelations (no "trivia") that could only result from extensive and enthusiastic study. For example, did you know?

"Falconry techniques and knowledges have been traded between disparate cultures for millennia. European knights took falcons with them on the Crusades, and learned how to hood falcons from their foes...Falconry's symbolic system was largely shared between both sides, and so it was able to articulate power-struggles in ways immediately comprehensible to either."

Then, typically Macdonald, a wry anecdote illustrates the point: "A besieged Richard I sent an envoy to Saladin to request food for his starving falcons; Saladin immediately delivered baskets of his best poultry for the falcons alone."

What Macdonald does with Falcon is bring all of herself to the subject. She breathes life into the work; pulls the lives of falcons and people together into a rare three-dimensional portrait. The effect is illuminating.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than Birds, April 21, 2006

By	M. K. Chew (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Helen Macdonald opens `Falcon' with a photo of a peregrine and a human skydiver in freefall together, separated by about an arm-span of open sky. It's sure to astound anyone who has ever held such a bird on their fist, or gotten close enough to really look one in the eye. An ambitious gambit, but one lived up to by the balance of the book. Scholar, scientist and falconer, Macdonald is unapologetically smitten with the birds and her knowledge of both falcons and the traditions surrounding them is immense. Passionate expertise does not guarantee readability, but Macdonald deftly achieves an engaging and witty tone throughout the volume. The natural history and conservation status of various species are covered to a degree that should more than satisfy any well-informed general reader. Chapters on falconry, myth and the military may surprise those accustomed to the ecological game American ecologist and writer Marston Bates wryly labeled "let's pretend man doesn't exist", but real falcons live in the real world. Human history and cultural attitudes are key elements in their stories, too. `Falcon' is both thoughtfully and attractively illustrated. Five minutes spent sampling the pictures and skimming captions can easily incite an hour of reading. If the rest of the books in Reaktion's `Animal' series are all this good, I'll be building another bookcase.