Shadow Above: The Fall and Rise of the Raven

The raven has been a symbol of death, all-seeing power, the underworld, and wildness in British history, and its return to its former habitats is a symbol of hope for humans in dark times. Joe Shute follows ravens across their new hunting grounds, examining our relationship with these birds and pondering what their successful return might symbolize.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 11 July 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

For millennia, we have sought to understand ourselves through the raven as a symbol. It holds a unique place in British history and has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape. The raven's imposing black shape has come to represent many things: death, all-seeing power, the underworld, and a wildness that remains deep within us. Legend has it that the fate of the nation rests upon the raven, and should the resident birds ever leave the Tower of London, then the entire kingdom will fall. While so much of our wildlife is vanishing, ravens are returning to their former habitats after centuries of exile, moving back from their outposts at the very edge of the country to the city streets from which they once scavenged the bodies of the dead. In A Shadow Above, Joe Shute follows ravens across their new hunting grounds, examining our complicated and challenging relationship with these birds. He meets people who live alongside the raven in conflict and peace, unpicks their fierce intelligence, and ponders what the ravens' successful return might come to symbolize for humans in the dark times we now inhabit.

Weight: 190g
Dimension: 129 x 197 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472940292