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The Peregrine
- Narrated by: David Attenborough
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
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The Peregrine
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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.
What the critics say
"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)
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What listeners say about The Peregrine
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pia
- 2022-08-10
Interesting book
I have enjoyed and not enjoyed this book. The topic and writing was (as far as I could tell) beautiful in itself. The trouble was that the narrator’s voice is so well known (to me and many others I am sure) from televised nature programmes. This made it hard to ‘see’ precisely what the author says. It is well written….. it was just hard to ‘hear’ the actual book since the narrating voice is so well know - with all respect to the narrator - clearly I am at a loss for precise words myself.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter R. Snell
- 2021-03-25
Text and narrator perfectly matched
This text is magic. David Attenborough brings it off the page and transports you to a British countryside teeming with wildlife. The listings of birds or diary entries of daily peregrine sightings could be mind-numbing, but in these wordsmiths’ hands they have the opposite effect. Attenborough/Baker weave a complex world of birds that can be ecstatic at times. And here’s the trick: in the mundane twittering and flitting of birds, there is a massive tragedy occurring, full of the requisite fear and pity, flawed judgment and foolishness. One could argue that giving five stars for a “story” when no traditional story exists is misleading. However, this book, in its mix of descriptive detail and poetic insight maps a grand story that will stick with you forever.
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