I am not sure that this book really explores “The role of birds in World War Two” but the subtitle “How Ornithology Helped to Win the War” is quite apt.
I am not sure what I expected from this book, perhaps information about the National Pigeon Service that I was already familiar with?
What I got was an exploration of birdwatching as a hobby, and how it gained popularity during the war. Not only do we discover how some key people became involved in birdwatching, but how they translated some of their ornithological experiences into “war work” – from Tom Harrisson who watched people ‘as if they were birds’ as part of the Mass Observation project, to POWs who took the opportunity to explore wildlife during incarceration when they had little else to do, producing some outstanding studies on local birds, such as the one Guy Madoc wrote on Malayan birds. I enjoyed earning more about Sir Peter Scott, son of the explorer Robert Falcon Scott, who went on to found the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and later the World Wide Fund for Nature, becoming one of the greatest conservationists of his time.
It was also fascinating to discover how flood defences to prevent a German invasion helped the avocet reestablish itself in Britain from near extinction.
I was interested in the use of birds in popular culture, from songs like “There’ll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover” or “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and how these were a key part of “blitz spirit” despite being rather fanciful (what bluebirds fly over Dover & has a nightingale ever sang in London?)

Overall, the book is well-researched and easy to read. It is amusing in places, educational in others & I would definitely recommend it bird lovers but also to anyone with an interest in WW2.

I didn't really think that this book lived up to its title, but I love to watch birds myself, so I found it quite fascinating anyway. I thought that it would mostly concern the role that pigeons played and it started off with this tale. However, there was a lot in the book about how General Allanbrooke found escape and solace from the war and Sir Winston Churchill (who he found rather annoying) in studying birdlife and became a great conservationist after the war. There was also a lot of detail about Peter Scott, the great Captain Scott's son, and his wartime experiences, including how he used studying birds to apply camouflage to vessels.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Time only allowed me to skim this book, but I hope to read it when it comes out. I had no idea birds besides pigeons had any role in any war.

This book starts off great with the role pigeons played in the war as message carriers. The author gives some great details about how this was done and some accounts of what transpired. The author also covers the impact that the war had on a few species, with one surprising twist of a positive outcome for a species. The rest of the book switches to details about the lives of men in the war and how they were able to spend time watching birds and even putting together species guides. The author chose to include a lot of extraneous detail about the these men that was not relevant to the role of birds, including details about their sex lives. The book would have been better if it had stuck to the role of birds. However, if you are into birds and war time stories you may enjoy the other information. All readers may come away with some new knowledge of what birds went through in Europe during this time period.