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Myself and Other Animals

By Gerald Durrell
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Brief Description
A final posthumous work of autobiography from the beloved conservationist and naturalist Gerald Durrell, to celebrate the centenary of his birth, with a new foreword by HRH Princess Anne. Gerald Durrell was magic SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH. One of the finest and most lyrical nature writers in... Read More
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A final posthumous work of autobiography from the beloved conservationist and naturalist Gerald Durrell, to celebrate the centenary of his birth, with a new foreword by HRH Princess Anne.

Gerald Durrell was magic SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH. One of the finest and most lyrical nature writers in English OBSERVER.

Myself and Other Animals is a new book mosaicked from unpublished autobiographies, uncollected pieces, and previously published extracts from Durrell's work and archives. The result is an extraordinary journey through Durrell's life in his own words, edited and introduced by his widow Lee Durrell.

Drawing on a memoir that Durrell started writing before he became too ill to continue it, and an unfinished book from a trip to Australia in 1969 to the Great Barrier Reef, Northern Territory, and Queensland, here is the unvarnished story of Durrell's life, from touching family tributes to golden bats and pink pigeons.

Moving from India to England and then to the always sun-lit Corfu, told with dry wit and insight into our fellow animals, here is the vivid finale of one of Britain's most beloved conservationists and prose stylists.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241738139

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 05 December 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Viking

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 33.0mm

Width: 144.0mm

Height: 224.0mm

Weight: 485g

Pages: 352

Collections

Biography & Memoir Education & Reference Gerald Durrell Musicians, Movie Stars & Creative Biographies Non-Fiction Penguin Books Science & Nature

About the Author

Gerald Durrell was born in Jamshedpur, India, in 1925. He returned to England in 1928 before settling on the island of Corfu with his family. In 1945 he joined the staff of Whipsnade Park as a student keeper, and in 1947 he led his first animal-collecting expedition to the Cameroons. He later undertook numerous further expeditions, visiting Paraguay, Argentina, Sierra Leone, Mexico, Mauritius, Assam and Madagascar. His first television programme, Two in the Bush which documented his travels to New Zealand, Australia and Malaya was made in 1962; he went on to make seventy programmes about his trips around the world. In 1959 he founded the Jersey Zoological Park, and in 1964 he founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. He was awarded the OBE in 1982. Encouraged to write about his life's work by his brother, Durrell published his first book, The Overloaded Ark, in 1953. It soon became a bestseller and he went on to write thirty-six other titles, including My Family and Other Animals, The Bafut Beagles, Encounters with Animals, The Drunken Forest, A Zoo in My Luggage, The Whispering Land, Menagerie Manor, The Amateur Naturalist and The Aye-Aye and I. Gerald Durrell died in 1995.

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