{"product_id":"the-cuckoos-lea","title":"The Cuckoo's Lea: The Forgotten History of Birds and Place","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"product-detail-description\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-detail-description__body readmore\"\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cb\u003eFINALIST IN THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eBBC WILDLIFE\u003c\/i\u003e BEST BOOK OF 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHidden in the names of English towns and villages, in copses, fields, lanes and hills, are the ghostly traces of birds conjuring powerful identities for people in ancient landscapes. What are their stories and secrets? How did people encounter birds over a thousand years ago?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Cuckoo's Lea\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael J. Warren sets out on the trail of these ghosts. Captivated and guided by the secrets of place names, he finds their stories entangled with his own explorations of places through birds all across England. The past is hauntingly and movingly present on timeless marshes where curlews cry, where goshawks are breeding again for the first time in centuries, through silent cuckoo-woods lost under concrete sprawl, in the winter roosts of corvids and an owl village that vanished centuries ago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWeaving together early literature, history and ornithology, this book takes readers on a journey far into the past to contemplate the nature of place and to discover a fascinating heritage that matters deeply to us now when so many places and their birds are threatened or already gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-detail-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-detail-description__body readmore-toc\" data-readmore=\"\" aria-expanded=\"true\" id=\"undefined1\"\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrologue\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter one: An Antiquity of Cranes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter two: The Cuckoo's Lea\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter three: Pathless Ways\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter four: Charterlands\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter five: An Owl's Cry\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter six: Marsh Dwellers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter seven: The Gull's Home\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter eight: Everywhere and Nowhere\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter nine: Hawk in the Woods\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChapter ten: Crow Hill\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEpilogue\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBirds in English Place Names: A Glossary\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePermissions\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNotes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFurther Reading and References\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndex\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Wilderness Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58264005149054,"sku":"9781399412063","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0996\/4096\/7550\/files\/TheCuckoo_sLea.jpg?v=1792439527","url":"https:\/\/wildernessbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-cuckoos-lea","provider":"Wilderness Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}