Sean Nixon is professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex.

"Clearly argued, thorough, and wide-ranging, Passions for Birds challenges the conventional view that conservationist ideas simply replaced older, more visceral ones. Nixon argues further that one cannot intelligibly separate out the histories of conservation, natural history, and field sports, that they need to integrated in a single richer cultural history." Jeremy Mynott, author of Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience"Passions for Birds unfolds as a beautifully written, engaging account of transwar British relationships with birds and their evolution from models emphasizing aristocratic hunting or falconry, favoring exclusive encounters, to conservation amidst an ecological consciousness, permitting a more democratic enjoyment of birds in spectatorship and tourism on preserves. The book's lyrical aspects make for enjoyable reading while the author skillfully wraps his arguments in approachable, yet rigorous, theoretical explanations." H-Environment"An exciting book. It argues rigorously and objectively that conservation and fieldsports ... are inextricably integrated in a rich cultural history." Shooting Times"Examining connections among the disparate activities of bird conservation, bird watching, field sports, falconry, and mass harvesting of birds for food, Nixon focuses on the cultural history of birds in the 20th century, chiefly in the British Isles and the North Atlantic region. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals." Choice

Sean Nixon is professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex.

"Clearly argued, thorough, and wide-ranging, Passions for Birds challenges the conventional view that conservationist ideas simply replaced older, more visceral ones. Nixon argues further that one cannot intelligibly separate out the histories of conservation, natural history, and field sports, that they need to integrated in a single richer cultural history." Jeremy Mynott, author of Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience"Passions for Birds unfolds as a beautifully written, engaging account of transwar British relationships with birds and their evolution from models emphasizing aristocratic hunting or falconry, favoring exclusive encounters, to conservation amidst an ecological consciousness, permitting a more democratic enjoyment of birds in spectatorship and tourism on preserves. The book's lyrical aspects make for enjoyable reading while the author skillfully wraps his arguments in approachable, yet rigorous, theoretical explanations." H-Environment"An exciting book. It argues rigorously and objectively that conservation and fieldsports ... are inextricably integrated in a rich cultural history." Shooting Times"Examining connections among the disparate activities of bird conservation, bird watching, field sports, falconry, and mass harvesting of birds for food, Nixon focuses on the cultural history of birds in the 20th century, chiefly in the British Isles and the North Atlantic region. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals." Choice

Sean Nixon is professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex.

"Clearly argued, thorough, and wide-ranging, Passions for Birds challenges the conventional view that conservationist ideas simply replaced older, more visceral ones. Nixon argues further that one cannot intelligibly separate out the histories of conservation, natural history, and field sports, that they need to integrated in a single richer cultural history." Jeremy Mynott, author of Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience"Passions for Birds unfolds as a beautifully written, engaging account of transwar British relationships with birds and their evolution from models emphasizing aristocratic hunting or falconry, favoring exclusive encounters, to conservation amidst an ecological consciousness, permitting a more democratic enjoyment of birds in spectatorship and tourism on preserves. The book's lyrical aspects make for enjoyable reading while the author skillfully wraps his arguments in approachable, yet rigorous, theoretical explanations." H-Environment"An exciting book. It argues rigorously and objectively that conservation and fieldsports ... are inextricably integrated in a rich cultural history." Shooting Times"Examining connections among the disparate activities of bird conservation, bird watching, field sports, falconry, and mass harvesting of birds for food, Nixon focuses on the cultural history of birds in the 20th century, chiefly in the British Isles and the North Atlantic region. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals." Choice