The Cuckoo's Lea
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Home > Lifestyle, Hobbies and Home > Nature and the natural world: general interest > Wildlife: general interest > Wildlife: birds and birdwatching: general interest > The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place
The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place

The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



International Edition


X
About the Book

‘Magical … No journey in Britain will be quite the same again.’ The Guardian Birds have long inspired our emotional and imaginative connections to physical environments, but where did it all begin? Hidden in the names of English towns and villages, in copses, fields, lanes and hills, are the ghostly traces of birds conjuring powerful identities for people in ancient landscapes. What are their stories and secrets? How did people encounter birds over a thousand years ago? In The Cuckoo’s Lea, Michael J. Warren sets out on the trail of these ghosts. Captivated and guided by the secrets of place names, he finds their stories entangled with his own explorations of places through birds all across England. The past is hauntingly and movingly present on timeless marshes where curlews cry, where goshawks are breeding again for the first time in centuries, through silent cuckoo-woods lost under concrete sprawl, in the winter roosts of corvids and an owl village that vanished centuries ago. Weaving together early literature, history and ornithology, this book takes readers on a journey far into the past to contemplate the nature of place and to discover a fascinating heritage that matters deeply to us now when so many places and their birds are threatened or already gone.

Table of Contents:
Prologue Chapter one: An Antiquity of Cranes Chapter two: The Cuckoo's Lea Chapter three: Pathless Ways Chapter four: Charterlands Chapter five: An Owl's Cry Chapter six: Marsh Dwellers Chapter seven: The Gull's Home Chapter eight: Everywhere and Nowhere Chapter nine: Hawk in the Woods Chapter ten: Crow Hill Epilogue Acknowledgements Birds in English Place Names: A Glossary Permissions Notes Further Reading and References Index

About the Author :
Michael J. Warren is an author, medievalist and naturalist. He teaches English in Chelmsford, was honorary research fellow at Birkbeck College, chair of the steering group for New Networks for Nature, and is currently a trustee for Curlew Action. Michael curates The Birds and Place Project, a website devoted to collecting and recording the birds of English place names.

Review :
Magical … No journey in Britain will be quite the same again. I loved this beguiling exploration of how birds have long inspired emotional and imaginative human connections to physical places. Fascinating and meticulously researched. A poetic blend of natural history, etymology and memoir. Scholarly, fresh, exquisitely crafted and breathtakingly, heart-achingly beautiful, The Cuckoo’s Lea weaves the human and natural history of England into a tapestry that will transform your relationship with place. Michael Warren has made a book I’ll love forever. One of the most unique works of nature writing in recent years, original in its ambition and successful in its execution. Michael Warren has written an exhilarating exploration of birds and words. Utterly beguiling, deeply poignant and revelatory, a cartographic overlay of language and land and our place in nature. A book with a pertinent and radical message from the past – that nature is our house, our dwelling-place and neighbourhood, from where we can chart a new course, with a very old compass. The best statement for the importance of the medieval I’ve ever read. A wonderful book. A brilliant blend of birds, places, history and language - all held together with a deft personal touch - and a surprise on every page. This is a book filled with calls and cries, booming, twittering, shrieking, singing – a joyful affirmation of life, revealed through quiet observation and reflection. The Cuckoo's Lea reminds us to listen and love the highly distinctive species which have shaped local identities. Magical, enchanting and intriguing. Read in wonder and see Britain made anew with eyes that are both ancient and modern. Simply phenomenal. Michael Warren has a great gift – this wonderful book is making me see landscapes anew. A fascinating, haunting book which unveils the rich meaning layered into our places. The Cuckoo's Lea is a rosetta stone for our ecological history. Intricate, deeply felt, earthed and airborne, fusing the knowledge of historian and naturalist to reveal the living pasts written in our landscapes as if with invisible ink. A really lovely reflection on the deep history of the British landscape and the connection between the people who've lived in these places and the birds they must have heard and seen.


Best Sellers


Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781399412070
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Spine Width: 38 mm
  • Weight: 399 gr
  • ISBN-10: 1399412078
  • Publisher Date: 05 Jun 2025
  • Height: 226 mm
  • No of Pages: 304
  • Sub Title: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place
  • Width: 144 mm


Similar Products

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC -
The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    Fresh on the Shelf


    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!