Want to know what books Jeremy Mynott recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Jeremy Mynott's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Aristophanes, Jeffrey Henderson | 3.64
This is an English translation of Aristophanes’ greatest comedy the Birds and is the story of birds taking control of the government. Includes background material on the historical and cultural context of this work, suggestions for further reading, and notes. Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture. more This is an English translation of Aristophanes’ greatest comedy the Birds and is the story of birds taking control of the government. Includes background material on the historical and cultural context of this work, suggestions for further reading, and notes. Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture. less 
Jeremy MynottAristophanes, the Greek comic playwright, wrote this play in the middle of the great war that was then going on between Athens and Sparta. (Source)
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2
Stephen Moss's book is the first to trace the history and development of birdwatching on both sides of the Atlantic, from Gilbert White, the country parson who wrote The Natural History of Selborne in the 18th century, through the British servicemen who studied black redstarts from their German prisoner-of-war camp, to today's driven "life-listers" and twisters who think nothing of hurtling the length of the UK by planes, automobiles, and even boats in pursuit of a Grey-Tailed Tattler temporarily landfallen in the Shetland Isles. Both authoritative and readable, A Bird in the... more Stephen Moss's book is the first to trace the history and development of birdwatching on both sides of the Atlantic, from Gilbert White, the country parson who wrote The Natural History of Selborne in the 18th century, through the British servicemen who studied black redstarts from their German prisoner-of-war camp, to today's driven "life-listers" and twisters who think nothing of hurtling the length of the UK by planes, automobiles, and even boats in pursuit of a Grey-Tailed Tattler temporarily landfallen in the Shetland Isles. Both authoritative and readable, A Bird in the Bush is directed at the general reader just as much as the dedicated birder. less Jeremy MynottThis book is a history of the kinds of interest people have taken in birds, it makes the point that birding is a very ecumenical activity – it involves all kinds and levels of people. (Source)
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3
John Clare, Jonathan Bate | 4.30
This is the first selection of the great Romantic 'peasant poet' John Clare to make available the full range of his accomplishment - as the chronicler of nature and childhood, the champion of folkways in the face of enclosure and oppression, the love poet, the political satirist and solitary visionary, confined in his maturity to lunatic asylums. more This is the first selection of the great Romantic 'peasant poet' John Clare to make available the full range of his accomplishment - as the chronicler of nature and childhood, the champion of folkways in the face of enclosure and oppression, the love poet, the political satirist and solitary visionary, confined in his maturity to lunatic asylums. less Jeremy MynottHe was brought up in rural Northamptonshire as a poor farm labourer, and he had an intense feeling for his local landscape and a very deep knowledge of all the wildlife around him. (Source)
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4
Mark Cocker, Richard Mabey | 4.70
The British love their birds, which are inextricably entwined with every aspect of their island life. British customs, more than 1,000 years of English literature, the very fabric of society, even the landscape itself, have all been enhanced by the presence of birds. Now, at last, here is a book which pays tribute to the remarkable relationship forged between a nation and its most treasured national heritage.
Birds Britannica is neither an identification guide nor a behavioural study (though both these subjects enter its field), it concentrates on our social history and on... more The British love their birds, which are inextricably entwined with every aspect of their island life. British customs, more than 1,000 years of English literature, the very fabric of society, even the landscape itself, have all been enhanced by the presence of birds. Now, at last, here is a book which pays tribute to the remarkable relationship forged between a nation and its most treasured national heritage.
Birds Britannica is neither an identification guide nor a behavioural study (though both these subjects enter its field), it concentrates on our social history and on the cultural links between humans and birds. It includes observations and experiences from more than 1,000 naturalists and bird lovers. These contributions from the public touch on aviation ecology; the lore and language of birds; their myths, the art and literature they have inspired; birds as food; and the crucial role they play in our sense of place and the changing seasons.
The book has taken eight years to research and write, and has been assembled by a team which includes some of the finest writers and image-makers of British wildlife. On one level, it is a remarkable collection of humorous stories, field observations and tales of joy, wonder and occasional woe; on another, it is a nationwide chronicle. Scholarly and wide-ranging, a mix of the traditional and the contemporary, Birds Britannica is a comprehensive record of birdlife in the early years of the twenty-first century. less Jeremy MynottIt’s an encyclopedic work and it’s arranged on a taxonomic basis, so it treats each bird both as part of a family and individually. (Source)
Jonathan ElphickIt’s primarily about our interactions with birds, from shooting and eating them, to celebrating them in various ways, including art and poetry. (Source)
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5
J. A. Baker, Robert Macfarlane | 4.39
From autumn to spring, J.A. Baker set out to track the daily comings and goings of a pair of peregrine falcons across the flat fen lands of eastern England. He followed the birds obsessively, observing them in the air and on the ground, in pursuit of their prey, making a kill, eating, and at rest, activities he describes with an extraordinary fusion of precision and poetry. And as he continued his mysterious private quest, his sense of human self slowly dissolved, to be replaced with the alien and implacable consciousness of a hawk.
It is this extraordinary metamorphosis, magical... more From autumn to spring, J.A. Baker set out to track the daily comings and goings of a pair of peregrine falcons across the flat fen lands of eastern England. He followed the birds obsessively, observing them in the air and on the ground, in pursuit of their prey, making a kill, eating, and at rest, activities he describes with an extraordinary fusion of precision and poetry. And as he continued his mysterious private quest, his sense of human self slowly dissolved, to be replaced with the alien and implacable consciousness of a hawk.
It is this extraordinary metamorphosis, magical and terrifying, that these beautifully written pages record. less 
Robert MacfarlaneBaker turned his bulging set of ornithological field journals into a 120-page prose poem. It’s astonishingly energy-filled. (Source)
Jeremy MynottIt’s the story of this pursuit of the bird and how he came to feel a kind of affinity with it, and how he uses the bird as a symbol for the things he feels, or wants to feel, about the natural world. (Source)
William FiennesIt’s hard to imagine a greater contrast with U and I, although it was written by another Baker. My book The Snow Geese had a lot to do with birds and the non-human world around us, but I didn’t read this book until I’d finished. I wish I’d read it earlier than I did. The way he describes the world outside him, particularly birds, is so electric. It avoids all the traps of rhapsody and the sort of... (Source)
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