Helen Macdonald is a writer, poet, illustrator, historian, naturalist, and an affiliated research scholar of history and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of the best-selling H Is for Hawk.
Falcon
Paperback
(New Edition)
$16.00
- ISBN-13: 9781780236414
- Publisher: Reaktion Books, Limited
- Publication date: 10/15/2016
- Series: Animal Series
- Edition description: New Edition
- Pages: 240
- Sales rank: 182,890
- Product dimensions: 5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.80(d)
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Before best-selling author Helen Macdonald told the story of the goshawk in H Is for Hawk, she told the story of the falcon, in a cultural history of the masterful creature that can “cut the sky in two” with the “perfectly aerodynamic profile of a raindrop,” as she so incisively puts it. In talon-sharp prose she explores the spell the falcon has had over her and, by extension, all of us, whether we’ve seen them “through binoculars, framed on gallery walls, versified by poets, flown as hunting birds, through Manhattan windows, sewn on flags, stamped on badges, or winnowing through the clouds over abandoned arctic radar stations.”
Macdonald dives through centuries and careens around the globe to tell the story of the falcon as it has flown in the wild skies of the natural world and those of our imagination. Mixing history, myth, and legend, she explores the long history of the sport of falconry in many human cultures—from Japan to Abu Dhabi to Oxford; she analyzes the falcon’s talismanic power as a symbol in art, politics, and business; and she addresses the ways we have both endangered and protected it. Along the way we discover how falcons were mobilized in secret military projects; their links with espionage, the Third Reich, the Holy Roman Empire, and space programs; and how they have figured in countless stories of heroism and, of course, the erotic.
Best of all, Macdonald has given us something fresh: a new introduction that draws on all her experience to even further invigorate her cherished subject. The result is a deeply informed book written with the same astonishing lyrical grace that has captivated readers and had everyone talking about this writer-cum-falconer.
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North American Falconers Association
"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."
Times Literary Supplement
“In the light of her new literary reputation, many will read, and should read, this book who did not read it before.”
Guardian
“This wonderful book explores how the fastest animals in history have carried the dreams of mankind on their wing. . . . Although Macdonald is passionate about birds of prey, and especially falcons, what makes this book so remarkable is not just that it is beautifully written but that it never loses sight of the big picture: the way these exquisite aerial predators—the fastest animals that have ever lived—have been used as constantly changing repositories for human meanings. . . . She weaves a memorable account of this most beguiling of creatures, from its earliest shamanistic uses to Marvel Comics’ first black superhero, the Falcon. A master class on how to write cultural history.
The Falconer
"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."
Journal of the History of Biology - Mark V. Barrow
"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."
Washington Post - Rachel Hartigan Shea
"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."
International Zoo News - Nicholas Gould
"Does not ignore natural history and falconry [and] also ranges over many other topics."
The Spectator - James Fleming
"Marvellous book . . . sheer joy."
Globe and Mail - Martin Levin
"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."
Times (UK)
"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."