WINGED FIRE BY VALMIK THAPAR

• Pages: 510
• Binding: Hardcover
• ISBN: 9789383064694, 9383064692

The richness of India’s birdlife has been celebrated for centuries. In this book, perhaps the most beautiful book on Indian birds ever published, renowned naturalist Valmik Thapar brings together the finest writing and photographs on our birds. The book also features a specially commissioned essay on the behaviour and distribution of Indian birds by the well-known birder Ramki Sreenivasan.

India has more than 1,200 species of birds. The richness and diversity of the country’s birdlife has been celebrated by thousands of ornithologists, birders and amateur naturalists for hundreds of years. Winged Fire brings together the best accounts, pictures and art on our birds. Contributors include luminaries like Babur, Abu’l-Fazl, Jahangir, Francois Pyrard, Edward Hamilton Aitken, Douglas Dewar, Jim Corbett, Colonel Kesri Singh, F. W. Champion, Salim Ali, E. P. Gee, A. Mervyn Smith, Hugh Allen, Kenneth Anderson, M. Krishnan, Khushwant Singh, R. S. Dharmakumarsinhji, E. R. C. Davidar, Zafar Futehally, Ruskin Bond, A. J. T. Singh, Peter Smetacek, Irwin Allan Sealy, Rishad Naoroji, and Bulbul Sharma. An essay by Ramki Sreenivasan provides a detailed account of the major species and their distribution, behaviour and habitats. Winged Fire is the last book in the trilogy – that also includes Wild Fire and Tiger Fire – put together by Valmik Thapar, taken together, these books give the reader an extraordinary view of India’s wildlife.

About the Author

Valmik Thapar has spent four decades serving the cause of wild India. During this time, he has authored, co-authored and edited more than twenty-five books and made or presented nearly a dozen films for the BBC and several other television networks on the tiger and Indian flora and fauna. His latest book Saving Wild India: A Blueprint for Change is all about finding real solutions to protect India’s wildlife. Winged Fire is the final book in his acclaimed trilogy that includes Wild Fire and Tiger Fire. Thapar has created a major non-governmental organization dedicated to conserving wildlife, the Ranthambore Foundation. He is currently a member of the Rajasthan Board for Wildlife chaired by the state’s chief minister and has helped the state government formulate a holistic forest conservation scheme – the Van Dhan Yojana.