Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2024 -

This book is for the birds! It is dedicated to them. Religion is for the birds, and vice versa. Sophisticated scholars Gardella and Krute, who are also avid birdwatchers, offer a magnificent, panoramic survey of the interrelationships among birds and the religions of the world. Chapters reveal a rich diversity of subjects ranging from birds in creation stories, evolution, and history to human and bird cooperation and rituals; birds as heroes, villains, and spirit guides; birds' extinction and conservation; and birds' varied roles in culture, film, art, music, and science. The last chapter is about birds leading humans into another new world. Surprisingly, but credibly, the authors even identify the emergence of a new bird religion. Throughout this bird-watching trip, readers discover an amazingly wide diversity of fascinating subjects with many accounts and anecdotes providing real eye-openers. For example, birds may help humans locate food and water, and they may play a role in replanting forests after wildfires. This captivating book is hard to put down. An extraordinary bird guide, it will interest as diverse an audience as the birds it covers, including adherents of any religion.Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.