Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird

Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled BirdPigeons have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Domesticated since the dawn of man, they've been used as crucial communicators in war by every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. Charles Darwin relied heavily on pigeons to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet today they are reviled as "rats with wings." Author Andrew

Pigeons have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Domesticated since the dawn of man, they've been used as crucial communicators in war by every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. Charles Darwin relied heavily on pigeons to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet today they are reviled as "rats with wings." Author Andrew D. Blechman traveled across the United States and Europe to meet with pigeon fanciers and pigeon haters in a quest to find out how we came to misunderstand one of mankind's most helpful and steadfast companions. Pigeons captures a Brooklyn man's quest to win the Main Event (the pigeon world's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby), as well as a convention dedicated to breeding the perfect bird. Blechman participates in a live pigeon shoot where entrants pay $150; he tracks down Mike Tyson, the nation's most famous pigeon lover; he spends time with Queen Elizabeth's Royal Pigeon Handler; and he sheds light on a radical "pro-pigeon underground' in New York City. In Pigeons, Blechman tells for the first time the remarkable story behind this seemingly unremarkable bird.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 10/10/2007
ISBN: 9780802143280
Pages: 244
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.18h x 5.54w x 0.66d

Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 11/11/2007 pg. 58

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 114326 / Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird
Reading Level: 7.7 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 11