Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird

By:

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis
From the Book Jacket: They have been worshiped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Domesticated since the dawn of man, they have been crucial to wartime communications for every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. One delivered the results of the first Olympics in 119 B.C. and another brought the news of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo more than 2,500 years later. Charles Darwin relied heavily upon them to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet the pigeon is reviled today as a rat with wings. How did we come to misunderstand one of mankind's most steadfast companions? In Pigeons, Andrew D. Blechman travels across the United States and Europe in a quest to chronicle the bird's transformation from beloved friend to feathered outlaw. From Brooklyn's Main Event, the pigeon world's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, to the eighty-third Grand National, with its thousands of bizarre and beautiful show pigeons, and from a pigeon shoot where people pay to gun down live birds, to the nation's oldest and biggest squab farm, Blechman takes the reader deep into the weird and wonderful world of pigeon fanaticism. He meets with pigeon fanciers and pigeon haters alike, includingthe Queen of England's Royal Loft Manager and members of the radical "pro-pigeon underground"; chases Mike Tyson, America's most famous pigeon lover; and for the first time tells the remarkable story behind this seemingly unremarkable bird. You'll never look at a pigeon the same way again. ! ANDREW D. BLECHMAN is an award- winning journalist who has worked for the Los Angeles Times and the Des Moines Register. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Smithsonian magazine and The New York Times. He currently divides his time between Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and Germany.
Copyright:
2006

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
243 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780802118349
Publisher:
N/A
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Andrew D. Blechman
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Outdoors and Nature
Submitted By:
Shelley L. Rhodes
Proofread By:
BookMouse
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

No Rating Yet