White-tail: The Unfinished Journeys of the White-tailed Eagle

The majestic White-tailed Eagle has been admired, feared, revered, reviled and, above all, misunderstood for thousands of years. These efficient and versatile hunters were driven to local extinction in the early twentieth century, vanishing from Britain in a cloud of accusations about threatening our food supplies. In 1975 they were reintroduced and today they can once again be seen soaring above our land. White-tail tells this epoch-spanning story from the age of the dinosaurs right up to the present day, exploring how the earliest birds became raptors and then eagles, how they became culturally vital to humans, and how those same humans took them to the brink of extinction and back again. The reader learns how the eagles came to arrive, depart, and return, and the challenges they face today. Travelling around Britain and to Norway, where they thrive, Morgan-Grenville meets the varied people who work with white-tailed eagles, live with them and worry about them, and in their stories finds a near-perfect metaphor for our willingness to make the changes needed to bring lost wildlife back to our skies and landscapes, as well as a deep insight to our own species’ curious relationship with predators. Exploring both ancient history and contemporary issues, this is both a biography of a species and a very modern story of hope and rejuvenation.