Taking Flight

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A History of Birds and People in the Heart of America

Michael Edmonds

A fascinating, soaring history of the human fascination with and natural affinity to the winged creatures in our midst through the lenses of science, history, and culture.

304 pages, 6 x 9, 61 color and b&w photos
Paperback: $28.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-836-2
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-837-9
Publication Date: 3/9/2018

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Description

The human desire to connect with winged creatures defies age and generation. This dynamic account of the 12,000-year-old relationship explores how and why people have worshipped, feared, studied, hunted, eaten, and protected the birds that surrounded them. Author and birder Michael Edmonds combed archaeological reports, missionaries’ journals, travelers’ letters, early scientific treatises, the memoirs of Native American elders, and the folklore of hunters, farmers, and formerly enslaved people throughout the Midwest to reveal how our ancestors thought about the very same birds we see today. Whether you’re a casual bird-watcher, a hard-core life-lister, or simply someone who loves the outdoors, Taking Flight will show you new ways of thinking about birds, people, and the extraordinary history that connects them.

Today, more than fifty million Americans traipse through wetlands at dawn, endure clouds of mosquitoes, and brave freezing autumn winds just to look at birds. Taking Flight helps explain our fascination with these feathered friends through the lens of thousands of years of human history in the American Midwest.

Author Bios

Michael Edmonds

Michael Edmonds is a writer and historian based in Madison, Wisconsin. His writings on history, nature, and folklore explore the ways that ideas have moved through time and space. He has always been fascinated by eccentric and atypical people or events that mainstream culture has overlooked. For more than a decade he wrote the syndicated weekly newspaper column “Odd Wisconsin,” which highlighted bizarre and little-known stories from the state’s past. Among his other books are Taking Flight, Risking Everything, and The Wisconsin State Capitol.

Meticulously researched and supremely readable, ‘Taking Flight’ explores the wondrous convergence between American history and avian history. Who knew how long we’ve flocked together? And how vital our interconnectedness really is? After reading this book, you’ll never look at birds the same way. You’ll never look at humans the same way, either.

B.J. Hollars

Author of "Flock Together: A Love Affair with Extinct Birds"

“As a historian and a birder, I found Taking Flight a wonderfully engaging invitation into the stories of how people and birds have interacted in the long history of the Midwest. There’s something here for every kind of birder; whether you’re fascinated with plumage or the deep impression birds have made on Midwestern folklore, Taking Flight will draw you in with its beautiful prose and its fascinating account of how and why humans seek the company of birds.”

—Leslie A. Schwalm, Professor of History and Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa