CHATTO & WINDUS, JANUARY 2012
Bird migration is the heartbeat of the planet. Along ancient routes, nothing to do with human frontiers, millions of birds are weaving the world together all the time. They are migration’s blue-print, reminding us that earth and the life it sustains are constantly changing form and changing place. Their migrations, especially, have made them for us an image of hope.
'Hopes are shy birds,' wrote John James Audubon in his journal in 1820, 'flying at a great distance.' Audubon had been focussed on birds since he was young He had just said goodbye to his beloved wife and children; he was taking a boat down the Ohio River on the first leg of his journey to Britain where he hoped to find someone to print ...
