ONE MIDSUMMERS DAY

It takes a whole universe to make one small black birdThe bestselling author of Crow Country and writer of the Guardian s Country Diary tells the story of all life on Earth through a single day spent in the company of swifts A jewel of a book CAROLINE LUCAS MP One of our greatest living naturalists SPECTATORSwifts are among the most extraordinary of all birds Their migrations span continents and their twelve week stopover when they pause to breed in European rooftops is the very definition of summer They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads No birds are more wreathed in mystery Captivated Mark Cocker sets out to capture their essence Over the course of one day in midsummer he devotes himself to his beloved black birds as they spiral overhead Yet this is also a book about so much more Swifts are a prism through which Cocker explores the profound interconnections of the whole biosphere From the deep sea thermal vents where life was born to the 15 million degrees at the core of our Sun he shows that life is a singular and glorious continuum These birds without borders are a perfect symbol to express the unity of the living planet But they also illuminate how no creature least of all ourselves can be said to be alive in iso