The Peregrine

By: J. A. Baker

Narrated by: David Attenborough

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

David Attenborough reads J. A. Baker’s extraordinary classic of British nature writing.

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 twentieth-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.

©1967 J. A. Baker (P)1967 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘A masterpiece of natural history writing. I would recommend to anybody who loves the English language, let alone birds of prey’ Monty Don, Financial Times

‘Passionately fierce but also wonderfully tender’ Andrew Motion

‘…an inspiring example to future writers, and a gift to lovers of nature.’ The Times Literary Supplement

‘… a literary masterpiece, one of the 20th century’s outstanding examples of nature writing.’ Independent

‘The Peregrine should be known as one of the finest works on nature ever written' BBC Wildlife

‘… some of the most marvellous prose of the twentieth century.’ Literary Review

‘A tour de force … what can I do except praise writing which involves all the senses? This book goes altogether outside the bird-book into literature.’ The Sunday Times

‘A rapt and remarkable book … his phrases have a magnesium-flare intensity.’ Observer

‘… what is certain is that The Peregrine is the most precise and poetic account of a bird – possibly of any non-human creature – ever written in English prose.’ Daily Telegraph

‘J. A. Baker's poetic prose has a hard intensity and an exquisite lyric grace that takes it far beyond the stereotypical stuff of larks ascending and questing voles. Cruelly beautiful and brutally exact, it sees the countryside anew to give us nature in the wild and in the raw.’ The Scotsman

‘Including original diaries from which The Peregrine was written and its companion volume, The Hill of Summer, this is a beautiful compendium of lyrical nature writing at its absolute best […]. For those with an interest in the Peregrine Falcon or classic natural history writing. ‘ Guardian

Ravishing

A classic of literary natural history, masterfully read by Sir David Attenborough. On my 3rd listen and it just gets better.

Masterpiece

Truly a masterpiece work of art. Attenborough brings it to a whole other level. Highly recommended!

A perfect meditation on the natural world

It doesn't matter where I drop the needle on this meditative collection of thoughts and observations, I'm always engaged, drawn-in. I love to close my eyes and let the narrator transport me into a natural world I care not to leave. Great find for me. Thank you, tj granack

A read for the retina…

From the peregrine to the rods & cones to the optic nerve to the occipital lobe & settling all over the cerebral cortex…

This is so fantastic that it makes me angry

The Peregrine is a classic, and a masterpiece. I did not think anything could be done to improve upon it, but now hearing Mr. Attenborough READ this I feel I can finally die a truly happy man. If you've already read this, or are brand new to The Peregrine please abandon anything you are currently reading and start this right now.

Inefable

Baker is a man who became. He achieved a transformation that is beyond most of us. And it all began with infatuation.The magnitude of his obsession is illustrated with a brush that is both planetary and minute. The book begins with Baker's extraordinary perception, a detailed sense of the otherness of birds and ends with the author merging into that otherness, with his becoming. The lyrical gravitas of it all is so beautiful, it is almost unbearable.

Reveling in Nature just for the heck of it

David Attenborough could read me the Yellow Pages and I’d be hanging on every word. 11/10 narration, no notes.

The authors writing style is also dense, poetic, and highly evocative… even if there’s no real narrative or cohesive structure. It’s mostly just like we picked up some naturalists highly detailed journal and read from it for a while, without a clear beginning or end… and we’re not mad about it,

A beautiful book

The prose in the book is incredible. It is like poetry. The images conjured up by this book have enriched me.

Being a hawk!

An extraordinary mind space to go into visually with the succulent voice of David Attenborough leading the way.

Opening a new world

From our flat landscape to a world without horizons, the Peregrine may open a new world.