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  • Published: 3 November 2016
  • ISBN: 9781473522947
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

The Man Who Ate the Zoo

Frank Buckland, forgotten hero of natural history




A lively and fascinating biography of Frank Buckland, ‘the David Attenborough of the Victorian era' - surgeon, natural historian, bestselling writer and early conservationist.

Frank Buckland was an extraordinary man – surgeon, natural historian, popular lecturer, bestselling writer, museum curator, and a conservationist before the concept even existed.

Eccentric, revolutionary, prolific, he was one of the nineteenth century’s most improbable geniuses. His lifelong passion was to discover new ways to feed the hungry. Rhinoceros, crocodile, puppy-dog, giraffe, kangaroo, bear and panther all had their chance to impress, but what finally - and, eventually, fatally - obsessed him was fish.

Forgotten now, he was one of the most original, far-sighted and influential natural scientists of his time, held as high in public esteem as his great philosophical enemy, Charles Darwin.

  • Published: 3 November 2016
  • ISBN: 9781473522947
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

About the author

Richard Girling

Richard Girling is an award-winning environmental journalist. For his work in the Sunday Times he was named Specialist Writer of the Year in the UK Press Awards in 2002, and was shortlisted for the same award in 2005 and 2006. He was Journalist of the Year at the Press Gazette Environmental Press Awards in 2008 and 2009. He has written seven books - most recently, The Hunt for the Golden Mole.

Also by Richard Girling

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Praise for The Man Who Ate the Zoo

Girling brings to rip-roaring life a fascinating Victorian figure of whom few have ever heard; I so wish I could invite Frank Buckland over for dinner.

Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the Tale

Hugely entertaining.

Jeremy Paxman

A rollicking biography.

National Geographical Traveller

[A] tumultuously entertaining biography… [An] irresistibly engaging book.

Sunday Times

A rollicking ride through eccentric Victorian England. Frank Buckland is the most engaging of subjects...Girling's infectious enthusiasm for his subject shines through

The Times

This brilliantly entertaining biography argues persuasively why his memory, too, is worthy of conservation.

The Economist

[An] engaging book… The anecdotes will, of course, keep you turning the pages, but the author never loses sight of Buckland’s importance as a scientific figure.

Eastern Daily Press

[A] lively biography.

Nature

[A] rousing, brilliantly written book.

Hephzibah Anderson, Mail on Sunday

An irresistibly engaging account of the life of the David Attenborough of the Victorian era.

Sunday Times

A long-overdue corrective… Girling is an amiable companion with whom to wander the maze of Buckland’s life.

Tim Auld, Daily Telegraph

It was a delight to be introduced to this largely forgotten polymath of that great age of scientific discovery, the 19th century.

Tony Rennell, Daily Mail

After decades of neglect, Richard Girling has brought Buckland out of the shadows with panache. Buckland was clearly a man of parts who exuded bonhomie from every pore… It is impossible not to be left with the impression that Frank Buckland was one of the most remarkable men who ever lived; and Girling does him proud

Serenhedd James, Church Times

Richard Girling’s engaging biography chronicles Buckland’s visionary ideas on conservation, as well as his many eccentricities.

Jane Shilling, Daily Mail