toweroflondon

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London | Christopher Skaife

pick

This was a great listen. Skaife takes us through his life with the ravens at the Tower of London. You can tell how much he cares for and admires the birds. I learned quite a bit about not just the history of the ravens but of ravens as a species.

This was my April #doublespin

TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo

28 likes1 comment

Robotswithpersonality

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London | Christopher Skaife

so-so

Let's get the uncomfortable truths out of the way. This man had a military career including being a British soldier in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. While his love and care for the ravens is clear, they are captive to the tower as a direct result of his actions: trimmed flight feathers being a part of the 'tradition'. These are realities I can't personally support.
1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? If you can look past that, this is a very charming book. It touches on Skaife's personal history prior to his time at the Tower, but is largely about his duties and experiences as the Ravenmaster, a good chunk is about both the ravens he's familiar with, occasionally their predecessors, with a healthy dose of raven facts and lore. 5mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/3 Skaife's love of history, and learning, perhaps found later in life, is palpable. The audiobook (read by the author) is wonderful and includes raven calls, while the physical book has pictures.

⚠️ animal death (edited) 5mo

7 likes2 comments