This book was first published back in 1985 in coffee-table format, by Collins, and was one of the first wildlife books I purchased, admittedly at a sale. If I didn’t have it, I would probably buy it again now for the same reasons I then did. One, the Introduction gives a succinct round-up of all things natural, bright and beautiful (and not so beautiful), past and present, in the context of Indian wildlife, being divided into sections covering ‘The Legacies of Invasion,’ ‘Geography and Climate’, ‘Vegetation and Monsoon’, ‘The Riches of Wildlife’, ‘A Paradise for Birds’, ‘Cold Blooded Creatures’, and ‘The Threatened Environment’. And yes, I must hasten to add, the Preface and Introduction (by Tyabji) have been brought up to scratch — up to 2007 — because a lot has happened since this title was first published, so the book remains topical and relevant. The second major reason I liked this book is that some of the more commonly seen (but hitherto anonymous) creatures —  insects and plants especially — have been photographed and captioned so at least now you can identify what you’ve seen.

 

There is little to choose between the quality of the reproduction of the photographs between the earlier and current edition — mostly very good — except that the earlier (hardback) was printed on glossy paper.

 

The major part of the book — which is pictorial — divides India into three sections: The Himalayas, The Indo-Gangetic Plain and The Deccan, which again provides a neat filing system for your mind, especially while struggling to come to terms with the immense biodiversity of India. The photographs provide a wonderful bird’s-eye view of the immense diversity of landscapes, flora and fauna — though they are more of a documentary nature than photo-artistic, which again is helpful if you’re more interested in knowing what a particular creature or plant looks like and the habitat it lives in. The large format of the book means the pictures are large too and you don’t have to squint to spot the subject as you do in ‘handy’ pocket guidebooks.

 

For anyone with a nascent interest in India’s wildlife, or unfamiliar with it, this book would make a wonderful purchase or gift — there are now many like it — but this one is especially big-hearted and easily digestible. The late Guy Mountfort, one of the founders of the World Wide Fund for Nature (he died in 2003) has left an abiding legacy and Gerald Cubitt has done wildlifers and nature lovers a big favour by including so many pictures of creatures we may be vaguely familiar with but so far haven’t managed to put a name to. Also, especially in the light of the fact that we’re left with just 1,400 tigers, this book should be a wake-up call with respect to all we’re likely to lose — tigers apart — if we allow those magnificent beasts to vanish forever from our forests.      

Leave a Reply