My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell,
1956
This lovely and wonderfully funny book describes from a child's eye view what it was like to grow up in Corfu (Greece) in the 1950s, surrounded by lizards, insects and of course the extraordinary Durrell family.
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Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell,
1960(Trilogy in one volume:
Ring of Bright Water 1960;
The Rocks Remain 1963;
Raven Seek Thy Brother 1969)
Gavin Maxwell
In this beautiful bestselling book which made him famous, Maxwell tells the story of the otter he brought back from the marshes of Iraq.
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See also:
A Reed Shaken by the Wind by Gavin Maxwell,
1959
A Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq
This lovely true story describes Maxwell's journey through the now-destroyed land of the Marsh Arabs. This was in his day an immense reedbed with a multitude of narrow waterways, full of wild boar, fish, otters and people living a way of life barely changed for thousands of years. He travelled with Wilfred Thesiger, who gave him the otter of Ring of Bright Water.
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Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson,
1927
Henry Williamson
The original otter tale, and one of the most moving natural history books ever written, tells the story of an otter pursued by hunters - from the point of view of the otter. Williamson took enormous care over the book, rewriting it many times to ensure it was precise and unsentimental. The effect is incomparable.
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The Origin of Species by Charles
Darwin, 1859
Darwin as a young man
Darwin's masterpiece remains an accessible and enjoyable book to dip into, and it gives an insight into the mind of a genius who was both a brilliant naturalist and lucky enough to be on the right ship at the perfect moment in history.
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The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles
Darwin, 1839
HMS Beagle on the Strait of Magellan
Darwin's first book established his fame, and proved that he could write a cracking tale of adventure and discovery. His descriptions are accurate but gripping - far from the dry emotionless account that you might imagine from a Victorian scientist. He is also amazingly modern: for instance he was scathing about the "reckless destruction" of the forest cover of the Cape Verde Islands.
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