A Bird in the Bush

A Social History of Birdwatching

‘ A wonderful book… beautifully told. He packs his pages with fascinating, often hilarious anecdotes and information. A social history which is a surprise and a delight’ Val Hennessy, Daily Mail Critic’ s Choice

Scholarly, authoritative and above all supremely readable, Stephen Moss’ s book is the first to trace the fascinating history of how and why people have watched birds for pleasure, from the beginnings with Gilbert White in the eighteenth century through World War Two POWs watching birds from inside their prison camp all the way to today’ s ‘ twitchers’ with their bleeping pagers, driving hundreds of miles for a rare tick.

‘ Thoroughly researched and well-written’ Mark Crocker, Guardian

‘ Moss knows his subject intimately and writes about it with just the right mixture of affection and occasional quizzicality’ Jonathan Bate, Sunday Telegraph

‘ It would be difficult to imagine anyone producing a more comprehensive, thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining examination of how people have watched birds at each point in history. In fact, it is one of the few books which might prove such compulsive reading that even a dedicated twitcher might forego a day in the field to stay at home to finish it’ Bryan Bland, Birding World