The Book of the Raven

Angus Hyland & Caroline Roberts This is a personal pick. I love birds in general and Corvids in particular. They are beautiful, endearing and extraordinarily intelligent creatures. The raven may have eyes black as coal, as Richard Thompson’s song says, but its feathers have an iridescence that beguiles. Magpies also have this and are a surprising riot of colour beyond their initial monochrome appearance, as evinced by the One For Sorrow spread in this glorious book.

This is a collection of art, history, legend, lore and literature that ranges from the ravens of Othin to Dickens’ companions – he had three ravens, all called Grip, and gave one to Barnaby Rudge. There are paintings – Gauguin’s Nevermore or Van Gogh’s Wheatfield With Crows – as well as drawings and, of course, inkings, such as Leonard Baskin’s from Ted Hughes’ Crow collection of poems. This is a visual and intellectual delight for any lover of birds, literature or art.

Laurence King £12.99, 160 pages (P/B) ISBN 9781786277015