Archive for Princeton University Press
A Review That Does What It Should
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If you’re planning on visiting any of the “Stans,” those wide-open exotic lands stretching from the Caspian to China, you’ll need to read Steve Rooke‘s review of the new Birds of Central Asia.
I won’t tell you what he says — just follow the link over to the ABA page — but I will tell you that this piece does exactly what I want a book review to do. Steve pulls no punches in pointing out the book’s weaknesses, and he does a great job of situating it in the context of previous works on the region. He fills out some of the taxonomic issues that the book itself has space only to mention, and adduces some striking examples of things we still just don’t know about the avifauna of the region. And he comes down hard with an overall judgment: Birds of Central Asia
very neatly fills a hole in the bibliography of Palearctic birding and has instantly become the standard guide to the region.
I don’t know about you, but that sort of thing in a review makes my traveling feet start to itch. Some day!
Birding South Georgia?
Posted by: | CommentsThen head over to the ABA Blog first to read the first of the new online book reviews, my evaluation of Burton and Croxall’s Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia.
Whats astonishing about this book is that it truly is a guide to “the wildlife” of that subantarctic island: not just the penguins and the seals, but everything, from albatrosses to copepods, mites, and lichens.
Princeton University Press and WildGuides have also just (as in, my copy arrived last night) re-issued Sally Poncet and Kim Crosbie’s Visitor’s Guide to South Georgia,
a handy and lavishly illustrated guide to the practical aspects of excursions to the more than 40 accessible sites on South Georgia and its satellite islands. The guide also includes checklists of the region’s animals and plants; the breeding birds get a “calendar” showing the times of arrival, laying incubating, hatching, brooding, and fledging, making it easy for the birder to select the best time of year for a visit to this cold, harsh, and infinitely fascinating place.
A Book Review
Posted by: | CommentsOver at the ABA Blog today, with a review of the new field guide to the birds of three South American islands.
Howell: Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels
Posted by: | CommentsA review over at the ABA Blog today. Steve Howell’s new tubenose guide is one even us landlubbers should read.
