The Hunt for the Golden Mole All Creatures Great and Small and Why They Matter - Hardcover

Girling, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1619024500 ISBN 13: 9781619024502

Publisher: COUNTERPOINT PR, 2014

Synopsis

Taking as its narrative engine the hunt for an animal that is legendarily rare, Richard Girling writes an engaging and highly informative history of humankind's interest in hunting and collecting - what prompts us to do this? what good might come of our need to catalog all the living things of the natural world? Girling, named Environmental Journalist of the Years 2008 and 2009, has here chronicled - through the hunt for the Somali golden mole - the development of the conservation movement, the importance of diversity in the animal kingdom, including humankind within this realm, as well as a hard look at extinction. The Somali mole of the title, first descibed in print in a text book published in 1964, had as sole evidence of its existence only the fragment of a jaw bone found in an owl pellet, a specimen that seemed to have vanished as Girling began his exploration. Intrigued by the elusiveness of this creature and what the hunt for the facts of its existence might tell us about extinction, he was drawn to the dusty vaults of museums of natural history where the most rare artifacts are stored and catalogued, as he found himself caught up in the need to track it down. Part quest, part travelog, the book that results not only offers an important voice to the scientific debate about extinction and biodiversity it becomes an environmental call to arms.

About this title

Review:

"That rarest of delights: a roaring book of huge importance written by a master storyteller exploring our fragile relationship with the animal kingdom, offering insights into how a hopeful future could yet be snatched from the jaws of despair. Not a hint of preaching, not a whiff of worthiness. A great story written not by an idealist but by a pragmatist with a heart of gold with a clear eyed view of the world." (Tim Smit)

"The Hunt for the Golden Mole is a wonderful book. At one level it is a detective story in which Richard Girling is on the hunt for a very rare creature. But it is much more than that: an understated but passionate advocacy for the biodiversity of the planet which combines lightly worn scholarship with a compelling argument. Overall it is a tour de force" (Jonathan Dimbleby)

"An informed and informative, provocative and rousing work" (Caspar Henderson Sunday Telegraph)

"This is a book that bursts into life from the first page... Rousing, fascinating... Utterly engaging" (Camilla Cavendish Sunday Times)

"This book is a sobering, riveting read: part quest, part travelogue, part scientific debate and part much-needed environmental call-to-arms" (Sarah Barrell National Geographic Traveller)

Book Description:

'Natural history at its funniest, most curious, enlightening and heartfelt...like going on safari with Gerald Durrell, Rachel Carson and Redmond O'Hanlon' Nicholas Crane

About this edition

• Publisher: COUNTERPOINT PR
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1619024500
• ISBN 13: 9781619024502
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312