The Great Auk
Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:13th Mar '25
Should be back in stock very soon
The life, death and afterlife of one of the true icons of extinction, the Great Auk
The great auk was a flightless, goose-sized bird superbly adapted for life at sea. Fat, flush with feathers and easy to capture, the birds were in trouble whenever sailors visited their once-remote breeding colonies. Places like Funk Island, off north-east Newfoundland, became scenes of unimaginable slaughter, with birds killed in their millions. By 1800 the auks of Funk Island were gone. A scramble by private collectors for specimens of the final few birds then began, a bloody, unthinking destruction of one of the world’s most extraordinary species.
But their extinction in 1844 wasn’t the end of the great auk story, as the bird went on to have a remarkable afterlife; skins, eggs and skeletons became the focus for dozens of collectors in a story of pathological craving and unscrupulous dealings that goes on to this day.
In a book rich with insight and packed with tales of birds and of people, Tim Birkhead reveals previously unimagined aspects of the bird’s life before humanity, its death on the killing shores of the North Atlantic, and the unrelenting subsequent quest for its remains.
The great auk remains a symbol of human folly and the necessity of conservation. This book tells its story.
Mesmerising ... There’s something endlessly pleasurable in listening to a person talk about a subject on which they’re both an enthusiast and an authority, and Tim Birkhead has both qualities in abundance. * The Telegraph *
As Tim Birkhead reminds us in this wide-ranging and deeply researched study, human exploitation of the species goes back millennia … A lively and meticulous book. * The Spectator *
A sad but engrossing elegy … The story of the great auk, movingly told in this book, continues. This remarkable bird is not forgotten. * Mail on Sunday *
A fascinating book… The Great Auk tells the story of an iconic bird. * Literary Review *
Tim Birkhead ably recreates the life of the flightless bird, and the far more bizarre after-story of humans fighting over skins, skeletons and egg collections … it’s a rallying call for conservation. * The Tablet *
Weaves a fascinating 20,000-year history of encounters with these intriguing birds into a deeper narrative exploring the tragedy of how human wonder and passion can mutate into destructive obsession. * Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred *
The story of the Great Auk reveals how the attitudes and values of people cause entire species to be condemned to extinction. From the fragments of written historical accounts and the eggs and skins collected as the species teetered at the edge of oblivion, Birkhead expertly charts the demise and afterlife of a bird that while to this day is often discussed will never again be seen alive. This is the brilliantly told true story of a legend. * Tony Juniper *
The many strands that are the mark of the author, Tim Birkhead, are drawn together to tell the story of the Great Auk that is both expert and fascinating … A lifetime of experience and deep passion are woven into the pages of this book, and we are left with the message that all of us have a duty to make sure that this tragedy must not happen again. * Mary Colwell, author of Curlew Moon *
What a story! I was completely gripped by both the biology and the very human tale and Tim Birkhead’s perseverance in following it, not to mention his eloquence in telling it. * Matt Ridley, author of The Red Queen *
A comprehensive and beautifully written account of this extinct bird. * Errol Fuller, author of Lost Animals *
ISBN: 9781399415743
Dimensions: 238mm x 162mm x 32mm
Weight: 500g
288 pages