'Sax's book roams divertingly over the scientific and cultural history of the "corvid" family, which includes the carrion crow, the raven, the rook and the jackdaw, tracing ambivalent responses to the mischievous birds.' - The Guardian 'A fascinating and delightful book ... examines the crow in myth, literature and life ... With sections on the crow in ... Read moreancient civilisations, different parts of the world and through to modern times, this book would be an excellent read for anyone interested in this group of birds.' - British Trust for Ornithology 'In this vivid and enjoyable meditation on crows in art, literature and history, Sax gives the genus Corvus the enthusiastic treatment it deserves.' - Publishers Weekly Crow is the sort of monograph I treasure and seek out, a work that draws together around a 'totem animal' centuries of relevant lore, a richness of iconographic treatments (photographs, portraits, masks, natural history plates, cartoons, book plates, marginalia, etc.) and the best natural history and natural science available to a lay researcher and engaged author.' - H-NILAS Reviews 'I found the section on the history of the scarecrow especially moving. Sax skillfully conveys the shifting use of these objects, which were first developed to serve a real purpose, scaring corvid crop predators, and slowly devolved into some- thing less applied and more nostalgic. For me, this section, especially, captured the ambiguous relationship between humans and crows that is repeated throughout the book...' - Anthrozoos 'Boria Sax has assembled a glorious romp of a book about the Crow family, and our human responses to it... I couldn't put this book down.' - Sacred Hoop In Crow, Sax elucidates the nuanced and sometimes illogical or contradictory cultural resonances of these birds. Crows are usually black, so have frequently been associated with mystical powers: their darkness. their slouching posture, and their love of carrion, have helped to make crows symbols of death, yet few if any other birds are so lively and playful. ...there are many careful, evocatively observational passages.' - Parallax Show Less