Helen Bynum
Whither the Narwhal?
The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure
By Katherine Rundell, with illustrations by Talya Baldwin
Faber & Faber 208pp £14.99 order from our bookshop
As I was driven up to the Sani Pass in the Drakensberg in South Africa recently, an African wildcat leapt from the side of the road and disappeared among the proteas. Since arriving from Europe, feral domestic cats have interbred with indigenous wildcats. The blending is often imperceptible. In time, my guide suggested, no pure African wildcats will remain in the Drakensberg; all will carry the genes of the introduced animals. Alien introductions, the burning of fossil fuels, habitat destruction, overexploitation and extermination: one way or another, we are continuing to mess with nature to an alarming and, for some species, irreversible extent.
It’s a message that cannot be repeated often enough if we are to bring about changes in our current behaviour. In The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure, the award-winning children’s author – not to mention biographer of John Donne – Katherine Rundell has added her passionate, lyrical voice
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
‘He has become a kind of global guru, public intellectual and consultant to the great. He is the ultimate geopolitical gerontocrat.’
From July 2022: Piers Brendon on Henry Kissinger.
Piers Brendon - Margaret Thatcher As I Knew Her
Piers Brendon: Margaret Thatcher As I Knew Her - Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy by Henry Kissinger
literaryreview.co.uk
‘Even setting to one side the historically neuralgic relationship with ... Ireland, Britain’s insular periphery has from at least the time of the Romans presented difficulties for authorities wishing to centralise.’
Peter Marshall on Britain's islands.
Peter Marshall - Notes from the Atlantic Archipelago
Peter Marshall: Notes from the Atlantic Archipelago - The Britannias: An Island Quest by Alice Albinia
literaryreview.co.uk
Offer ends soon! Take advantage of our best ever Black Friday offer and get a year's subscription for £29.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/blackfriday/