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The Peregrine cover art

The Peregrine

By: J. A. Baker
Narrated by: David Attenborough
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Publisher's Summary

The nation's greatest voice, David Attenborough, reads J. A. Baker's extraordinary classic of British nature writing, The Peregrine.

J. A. Baker's classic of British nature writing was first published in 1967. Greeted with acclaim, it went on to win the Duff Cooper Prize, the pre-eminent literary prize of the time. Luminaries such as Ted Hughes, Barry Lopez and Andrew Motion have cited it as one of the most important books in 20th-century nature writing.

Despite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J. A. Baker spent long winters looking and writing about the visitors from the uplands peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons and waders that share the desolate landscape with them.

©1967 J. A. Baker (P)1967 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"Passionately fierce but also wonderfully tender." (Andrew Motion)

 

"An inspiring example to future writers, and a gift to lovers of nature." (Times Literary Supplement)

 "A literary masterpiece, one of the 20th century's outstanding examples of nature writing." (Independent

What listeners say about The Peregrine

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  • Ben
  • 10-06-2022

nature documentary through prose

J A Baker has presented a book full of elegant prose, rich metaphors and similes whilst also being fairly straightforward and factual. the book follows the narrators journey through several seasons observing peregrine falcons in various habitats around england.

JA Baker removes himself and becomes a camera lense to the natural happenings. this is as close to tv as a book gets and david attenboroughs narration is the proverbial cherry.

the only sour patch in the book was the boring sycohphantic description of the book and author that followed post script. 'i've never tried acid and thanks to J A Bakers colourful description I never have to' .. some meritous professor wanking over how important and revered the work should be. mate its a book. don't make it your life.

otherwise a fantastic audible experience.

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Must read

Only now in my thirties am I becoming more thirsty for books of nature focused interest and command of artistry writing. This marries both along with being narrated by the grandfather of our time Attenborough. An absolute delight of a listen.

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A masterpiece of nature writing

I think it was about twenty five years ago when I bought a paperback copy of this book, now much faded and dog-eared from many readings. It is a masterpiece of nature writing. It draws the reader into the atmosphere and immediacy of the landscape and the hawk with text that mixes detailed natural history observations (e.g. lists of peregrine prey items) with passages of the most wonderful poetic intensity. The timbre and cadences of David Attenborough's beautiful reading of J.A. Baker's text makes this audiobook version very special indeed.

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