Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator.

When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer—Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood—she'd never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own.

Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor.

Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life. Heart-wrenching and humorous, this book is an unflinching account of bereavement and a unique look at the magnetism of an extraordinary beast, with a parallel examination of a legendary writer's eccentric falconry.

Insectopedia is a stunningly original exploration of the ties that bind us to the beautiful, ancient, astoundingly accomplished, and unfathomably different species with whom we share this world.

For as long as humans have existed, insects have been our constant companions. Yet, we hardly know them, not even the ones we're closest to: the insects that eat our food, share our beds, and live in our homes.

Organizing his book alphabetically, with one entry for each letter, Hugh Raffles weaves together brief vignettes, meditations, and extended essays. He embarks on a mesmerizing exploration of history and science, anthropology and travel, economics, philosophy, and popular culture, showing us how insects have triggered our obsessions, stirred our passions, and beguiled our imaginations.

Raffles offers us a glimpse into the high-stakes world of Chinese cricket fighting, the deceptive courtship rites of the dance fly, the intriguing possibilities of queer insect sex, and the vital and vicious role locusts play in the famines of West Africa. He also explores how beetles deformed by Chernobyl inspired art, and how our desire and disgust for insects have prompted our own aberrant behavior.

Deftly fusing the literary and the scientific, Hugh Raffles has given us an essential book of reference that is also a fascination of the highest order.