Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Yalden D. 1999. The History of British Mammals. Poyser Natural History. Pp 303. ISBN 0 85661 110 7.

Aim of this text is very straightforward - to document the changes in British mammals for the last 15,000 years. The reader is taken chapter-by-chapter through this timespan starting with the Ice Ages. Late glacial times saw some of the largest mammals roaming those parts of the British Isles free of ice. Mesolithic people bring the first of many changes to the native fauna. Subsequent chapters in the 9-chapter work detail changes since that time - Neolithic clearances, Saxons, Normans and other hunters and the C20th losses. The final three chapters change tack by looking at conservation work, Irish mammal changes and the future of mammals.

The nature of the subject makes this more of a reference text than a textbook. It contains a great deal of useful data on distributions, archaeozoology etc. Its greatest resource and one which would grab the attention of any reader is that illustrations are beautiful drawings rather than the photographs we are more used to seeing. It adds an all-too-rare aesthetic dimension to the book which makes it worth the purchase price on that feature alone!