Drawn From Paradise

Drawn from Paradise is David Attenborough’s journey through the cultural history of the birds of paradise, one of the most exquisite and extravagant, colourful and intriguing families of birds.

From the moment they were introduced to the European mind in the early sixteenth century, their unique beauty was recognised and commemorated in the first name that they were given – birds so beautiful must be birds from paradise.

In this unique exploration of a truly awe-inspiring family of birds which to this day is still shrouded in mystery, David Attenborough and Errol Fuller trace the natural history of these enigmatic birds through their depiction in western works of art throughout the centuries, featuring beautiful illustrations by such luminary artists as Jacques Barraband, William Hart, John Gould, Rubens and Breughel, to name but a few. Experienced ornithologists and general nature and art enthusiasts alike will delight in this journey of discovery of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious birds.

Reviews

‘The book is as sumptuous as the birds themselves, a celebration of birds that have haunted the human imagination for half a millennium.’ Simon Barnes, The Times

‘Brilliant’
Guardian

‘A worthy inheritor of Alistair Cooke’
Telegraph

‘The nation’s favourite wildlife broadcaster’
The Times

About the author

David Attenborough is one of the world’s leading television broadcasters. His interest in the Birds of Paradise began at a very early age, leading to various expeditions to New Guinea to see them in the wild. The award-winning documentary Attenborough in Paradise fulfilled a dream to record in the wild the courtship display of these magnificent birds.

Errol Fuller is well known for his books on extinction and extinct species, as well as an artist and collector of natural history material. He is passionate about the Birds of Paradise.