Product Description

The authorised biography of the great naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell, who died aged seventy in January 1995 in Jersey, where he founded the zoo he'd dreamed of as a small boy and pioneered the captive breeding of animals for conservation. Gerald Durrell was a world-famous naturalist and popular author who wrote, in all, some thirty-seven immensely readable yarns, including the bestselling 'My Family and Other Animals'. His other books include 'Birds, Beasts and Relatives', 'The Bafut Beagles' and 'A Zoo in My Luggage'. Above all, he paved the way in print for the popular presentation of the natural world on television and presented twelve series himself -- the early ones, of his own expeditions. Sir David Attenborough has said: 'He was responsible for changing people's attitudes to zoology and changing their agenda. He showed them small animals could be as interesting as apes and elephants!He was a pioneer with a marvellous sense of humour.' His brother was the famous writer Lawrence Durrell.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #183419 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Although his work is not widely read today, Gerald Durrell (1925-1995) was among the world's most popular naturalists in the 1950s and early 60s. He travelled to then-remote places such as Siberia, Cameroon, Tierra del Fuego and Mauritius in search of odd zoological specimens and reported his travels in books like The Whispering Land and My Family and Other Animals. In the first full-length biography devoted to Durrell, Douglas Botting writes of his passage from gifted child amateur to scientifically trained professional. That passage was inspired in part by Gerald's older (and more famous) brother, the novelist and memoirist Lawrence Durrell, who gave Gerald a copy of Jean-Henri Fabre's classic Insect Life: Souvenirs of a Naturalist and encouraged his younger brother to follow his dream of living and working in the wild. Gerald Durrell, as Botting shows, went on to make signal contributions as a conservationist who founded the Jersey Zoo and other organisations devoted to protecting endangered species by breeding them in captivity and then reintroducing them into their native habitats. (Among those species were the Siberian ferret, highland gorilla, snow leopard, bespectacled bear and golden lion tamarin.) Botting's well-written biography will be of interest not only to admirers of Durrell's work but also to students of the environmentalist and conservationist movements. --Gregory McNamee, Amazon.com

About the Author
Douglas Botting's biography of GAVIN MAXWELL was hugely praised. His previous books reflect his interest in travel, exploration and wild places. He was an exploration film-maker for the BBC's 'World About Us' and became a full-time writer with the publication of his highly praised biography of the German explorer-naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, Humboldt and the Cosmos.

Customer Reviews

A must for any Durrell fan.
This book captures the essence of Gerald Durrell. He was a passionate conservationist and writer, founder of Jersey Zoo, and had a wicked sense of humour. The public Durrell was enthusiastic and an inspiration to many, behind the scenes there were flaws, but these are sensitively presented by Douglas Botting. The author only met Gerald Durrell once, but was given access to private papers, letters and other unpublished material. Through Gerry's own writing, and comment from members of the famous 'My Family', as well as from his first wife Jacquie, second wife Lee, and colleagues and friends, we learn more of Gerry's childhood, his romantic liaisons, and passion for alcohol (just like the Fon of Bafut who Gerry made famous in his books about animal collecting in Cameroon). Gerry's own words speak out from this biography, with many quotes, and Durrell fans will enjoy revisiting his colourful descriptions of expeditions around the globe. This biography proves Gerry Durrell was larger than life, but there was a personal price to pay. The book clearly talks about the more problematic times in Gerry's life, but we are still left with a sense of wonder at the man and admiration for all he achieved.

Excellent, Thoughtful and Insightful
I've been a lifelong fan of Gerald Durrell and his tireless works, both as a naturalist and as an author. I was greatly saddened by his death, and it is perhaps a loss that many others have felt.That this biography has been allowed access to personal memoirs, and drafts of his never-written autobiography, reflects a side of Durrell never seen in the slightly hazy good-natured narcisstic reflection that is his style of autobiography, or in his media appearances. In many cases, a 'truthful' biography lessens the opinion of the subject - often a shining reputation is tarnished as skeletons are found in well hidden closets. In this case, for me at least, my opinion - and understanding - of him has increased, for as well as the adventurer and animal lover, one finally sees Durrell the human-being.

One man's triumph over the 'big boys'
I enjoyed the humour which showed through in the extracts of the personal letters written by Durrell even in times of severe adversity - a lesser man would have given up his ambitions in early life.

It was also great to see how one man could influence so many old fashioned attitudes in the 'Victorian' zoos around the world.

The sad ending to Durrell's life made me draw comparisons with John Aspinall who also suffered in later life, but likewise achieved great things for conservation without any formal zoology training.

A very moving story.