Page 96 - BBC Wildlife - August 2017 UK

REVIEWS O BOOKS

O TV
O RADIO
O DIGITAL
O MOVIES

The pungent aroma of a fox
is difficult to forget once you
have smelled it. In ReWild, Nick
Baker encourages us to
hone our olfactory skills.

RELEASEYOUR

INNER WILD

How to discover the potential of your senses. BOOK
ReWild: The Art of Returning to Nature OF THE
By NickBaker Aurum Press £16.99 MONTH
Britain’s Mammals Discovering the Mammoth
Well.This was an eye-opener in so many By Dominic Couzens, Jon Dunn et al By John J McKay
W
Princeton £17.95 WW Norton £22
w
ways. Not onlyis ReWild a guide to
o opening our eyes, ears and other senses This is not just another field Before the dinosaurs came the
i inorder to let thewild into our lives,but guide, this is the perfect field mammoths. This is not
I Ihave to say BBC Wildlife columnist guide for old hands and geologically true but the bones of
Nick Baker (see p11) as a long-form newcomers alike. It presents these Ice Age giants were gracing
N
w profiles on every mammal you museums long before those of T.
writer is a complete revelation.
b aneously scientific and can encounter in Britain and rex.John McKay’s new book
enthusiastic, passionate but articulate, exasperated Irelandaswell as established looksat ourrecent historical
but warm, and fantastically, wondrously nerdish. introduced and reintroduced fascination with mammoths,
I devoured the book in three evenings, continually species. The tracks and signs fromthe first skeletal discoveries
resisting the urge to throw it down and, at the author’s chapter is particularly brilliant, through to their effect on society
behest, run phoneless and possibly even naked out into with clear drawings of each and scientific thought. Aimed at
the fragrant, scintillating night and stay there, listening, track and an accurate droppings a popular audience, the author
smelling, feeling with my whole self while waiting the identification chart. Britain’s criss-crosses the globe and
45 minutes it apparently takes our night vision to reach Mammals also encourages you several centuries in time,
its full potential. Quite simply one of the best things I’ve to go and test your new skills in detailing the unusual events and
read (and believe me, I’ve read a lot) on what it means the field – it has already earned characters that helped shapeour
and how it feels to be physically in touch with nature. a place in my rucksack. understanding of these creatures.
Amy-Jane Beer Wildlife writer Hilary Macmillan VincentWildlife Paul Chambers Palaeontologist
96 BBC Wildlife August 2017