For hundreds of years, the Tower of London has had some famous residents: the ravens. The legend is that if the ravens should ever leave, the Tower will fall and great harm will come to the kingdom. So, it's imperative that this disaster never comes to pass and the responsibility for ensuring this falls to one man: Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife.
I really enjoyed this book. I had purchase it for my husband as a Christmas Eve gift and thought he would like it --- and he did. He kept sharing details from the book with me when he was reading, so I knew I had to read it, myself. Skaife is a fascinating guy and has led a pretty interesting life. So, you're not just learning about the ravens at the Tower of London, but you're learning about him, the history of London, and a ton of information about ravens and corvids. He writes in a very engaging, entertaining way, and he has a conversational style. I found the book to be absolutely fascinating --- I have an interest in corvids (the group of birds that includes crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies and others) and have visited the Tower of London, so this was, in a way, a perfect book.
I also liked that Skaife includes information and folklore about ravens and then balances it with real-life information, so you can understand the fascination many people have with these amazing birds.
By the way, Skaife is on Twitter and often shows off photos of the ravens, including Merlina, who is very friendly with him.
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