Fauna Britannica

In Fauna Britannica, Duff Hart-Davis manages to pull off a very difficult task admirably well. As his subtitle indicates this is a Practical Guide to Wild & Domestic Creatures of Britain, which attempts to describe the island's animals or at least some of them. The total count of different kinds of creatures, great and small that inhabit these Isles is immense, but the vast majority are very small in size. As a famous biologist once said, God must have been inordinately fond of beetles. So, for any such book it is inevitably a matter of selection.

Not unreasonably, the bigger animals come first and range from the badger through bats and whales to the Tamworth pig. There are birds aplenty and altogether these backboned animals take up three-quarters of the book, leaving the remaining quarter for fish, amphibians, reptiles and a small selection of invertebrate shellfish, insects and so on. One could quibble about omissions, for example no sea-urchins, but this is primarily a book about backboned animals. It would take another volume or two to do the rest justice. Almost all our beasts get a high quality photo plus an informative and interesting description with particularly interesting longer sections on domesticated animals and aspects of their history. This is fascinating stuff and lifts the book far beyond the average field-guide. Besides which it is far to big and heavy to cart about the countryside. Fauna Britannica is more your feet-up-in-front-of-a-good-fire kind of guide but nevertheless is also practical in the sense that it is a very useful reference for anyone interested in our sadly depleted wildlife. Hart-Davis includes an informed discussion of the thorny problem of accidentally or intentionally introduced or reintroduced animals; as he rightly says "even a creature as small and apparently harmless as an edible dormouse can become a nuisance in an alien environment".

Duff Hart-Davis is a well known British writer and journalist on country matters and consequently he manages to make his Practical Guide eminently readable and enjoyable. There is a useful appendix, listing organisations concerned with animals, and an excellent index. Fauna Britannica will provide many a happy hour of browsing with the reassuring thought that some of our previous inhabitants such as wolves, lions and bears are no longer lurking around the corner in the shrubbery. --Douglas Palmer

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Not a text book but a good read! - Rated
A wonderful incite into the creatures of Britain, explaining how they have come to exist within the countryside and with us.
More than a spotters guide or manual, something for those who enjoy more than just statistics. A book that I pick at and pick up throughout the seasons.

Bang. Bang. Up to date - Rated
I bought this on the strength of Flora Britannica which is a magnificent celebration of the plants of our country. I was so disappointed by this silly "companion" piece that I tried to give it away... my mum took it before returning it as "a waste of some nice photos". Perhaps Oxfam will take it...but I am by no means confident.
If your main interest in wildlife is as prey, if you think that most of our fellow mammals are basically pests that need to be controlled or, preferably, killed...well then this is the book for you!

Fauna Britannica - Rated
A beautiful, eccentric and fascinating book that looks not just at wildlife from a fluffy Disney point of view, but also examines the relationship with humans and the countryside. The book is also an evocative exploration of how some animals have thrived on finding their way to this country, how breeds have changed through selective management, and how other native animals been over exploited by humans or suffered from alien introductions to this country. Far from being a simple reference book of wildlife and habitat, it is more like a colourful, biographical portrait of the wildlife of our countryside and towns. Highly recommended!

Fauna Britannica - Rated
Although of interest and quite comprehensive, I found this book disappointing with its clear bias towards bloodsports - game birds are described according to their 'sporting value', while there are very one-sided features on foxhunting and shooting. The description of some other animals seems to concentrate on the perception of them as pests and man's attempts to destoy them for one reason or another, rather than giving much information on habitat, biology, social behaviour etc.

A wasted opportunity, and disappointing. More about the ANIMALS would have been appropriate.

The coffee table book that you'll pick up again and again. - Rated
If you are a fan of the British countryside you may think that you know all the animals within it already. This book will show you that you almost certainly don't. From the largest farm animals to the tiniest insects, Fauna Britannica is a fascinating guide to the native and introduced species within the British Isles.

The book is bang up to date with much reference to the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak and its effects. Laid out in easy to navigate sections, the photographs and illustrations that accompany the written entries are a visual feast. There is a wealth of detail about each animal featured with clear concise descriptions and plenty of fascinating fact and anecdote.

I got this book as a Christmas treat for myself, and it beats a bottle of wine and box of chocolates hands down. With clear jargon free descriptions it really is suitable for any animal lovers aged 9 - 90. It's a book to pick up and dip into, but so well written that you may not put it down for a while. Sometimes I wished for a few more pictures, hence the four stars and not five, but this really is a book worth owning.