It's so hard to find good books on foxes.
This is welcome treat! ( )

British ecologist and fox expert Adele Brand explores the world of our vulpine neighbors in this brief work of natural history, touching on such topics as the evolution and history of this group of canid species, their anatomy and likely habitats (rural and urban), their internal social structures and their dealings with other species, particularly their complicated and often fraught relationship with humanity. Methods of counting populations, anecdotes about the author's own various adventures with specific foxes, both in the UK and abroad, and suggestions for minimizing vulpine-human conflict are also included. Brand's central message seems to be that foxes are endlessly adaptable, managing to live and thrive in a world we humans have radically transformed, and that we should work to coexist peacefully with them...

I wanted to like The Hidden World of the Fox far more than I did, but although I certainly enjoyed reading it, and agreed with the central message, I came away somewhat frustrated, thinking it had significant flaws. First, I should mention that almost all of my prior reading about foxes has been centered in the cultural, rather than the biological sphere. I wrote my masters dissertation on three centuries of Reynard retellings in the world of English-speaking children's literature. After all, it was Locke who opined, in his 1693 Some Thoughts Concerning Education, that other than Aesop's fables, Reynard was the only fit reading material for children then available, giving the subject matter a particular historical significance, when it comes to the development of children's literature in the Anglophone world. An immensely popular beast epic during the Middle Ages, the Reynard story was retold in the literature of many different European countries, and was so influential that it changed the French word for fox from goupil to renard. It is impossible to overstate how central the Reynard story was, in shaping how Europeans and their descendants around the world perceived the fox. Given that this is so, I was somewhat surprised to see no direct mention of Reynard and his tale in the chapter on the fox's history, although Aesop does appear. I found this rather odd, as Brand is clearly aware of the story and its significance, including one of Wilhelm von Kaulbach's famous Reynard etchings in her section of photos, and referencing Kenneth Varty's excellent Reynard the Fox: Social Engagement and Cultural Metamorphoses in the Beast Epic from the Middle Ages to the Present in her bibliography for the chapter (more on the problem with the bibliography below). I realize that this is a very specialized area of interest, and that Reynard is not as well-known as he once was, at least in the English-speaking world - his history is still considered a classic in the Netherlands, Germany and France - but it struck me as odd that Brand would devote an entire paragraph to Japanese kitsune, when none of her research or anecdotes concerned the foxes of that country, but would then neglect to discuss one of the most influential and long-lasting fox stories in the western cultural tradition, despite almost all of the fox research she presents coming from western countries.

I must admit that my disappointment at the absence of Reynard in Brand's book is a highly personal reaction, driven by my own research interests, and is one that most other readers would probably not share. That said, as the chapter on the history of the fox comes at the beginning of the book, it set the tone for me, and put me on my guard, as I continued to read. I am not a scientist, and have little training in biology or natural history. I sought out The Hidden World of Foxes precisely because all of my prior reading on the subject had been cultural, and because I wanted to learn about biological foxes in the 'real' world. In that sense, the book was also a bit of a disappointment. I did learn a number of things that I hadn't known before, and that I found fascinating - the fact that ancient canids evolved in North America, spread to Eurasia, where they evolved into (among other things) foxes, and then spread back to North America, for instance - but there simply wasn't enough of that to satisfy me. Some of the things I learned - that foxes are believed to use the earth's magnetic fields in hunting, that certain species of plant germinate more readily, when their seeds pass through a fox's digestive track - were mentioned, but not really explored or explained. I found myself wanting to know why: why would a seed have a better rate of germination, after being eaten and excreted by a fox? Because of a particular chemical in the fox's stomach or intestines, perhaps working to soften the outer layer of the seed? Or is the reason not known? The amount and complexity of the scientific content in this book seemed very low, even to my non-scientist eyes, and I came away feeling that I wasn't much the wiser, when it came to the world of wild foxes. I was also very much confused by and then disappointed in the bibliographies here. This is a minor point, and can be laid at the door of the editor, rather than the author, but in the edition of this that I read, the bibliographies - there is one for each chapter - are mislabeled. Someone mistakenly labeled the bibliography for the Prologue as being for Chapter 1, throwing off the labeling for all of the subsequent bibliographies. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on, as I would periodically flip to the back and seek out the bibliography for the chapter I was reading, only to find references that were clearly meant for the chapter before. Between this error and the typos I noticed while reading, I came away with the impression that this book wasn't that rigorously edited.

Despite all of the foregoing criticism, I nevertheless enjoyed The Hidden World of the Fox. It wasn't what I was hoping for or expecting, but if one is in the mood for a chatty, anecdotal book about foxes, one that makes a persuasive argument for their many good qualities, and for the idea that humans should tolerate them, then this might be the title to pick up. ( )

Das Buch hat mir, als Laie, gut gefallen. Auf sehr unterhaltsame Weise werden alle Anekdoten und Fakten zum Thema Füchse beschrieben. Frau Brand hat einen wissenschaftlichen und gleichzeitig wohlwollenden Blick auf Füchse. ( )

Adele Brand is an achingly good writer.

In The Hidden World of the Fox Brand brings field research, nature writing, and beautifully written prose to highlight the world of Foxes but not just foxes all living things. This book is not just 'readable' but it is a joy and a triumph. Adele Brand by just stunning turns of phrase and pacing has created a nature book that in parts reads like some of the best fiction I have ever read it is lyrical and absolutely stunning. This book will make you more curious it will open up your heart and mind to what it is to live in the world that animals have inhabited for ages and the world that animals must contend with that humanity has created. This book will make you smile and if you have any shred of empathy it will pull at your emotions and pretty much force you to feel or at least think about other living things.

The Hidden World of the Fox is a must read. It is a must read if you love nature writing. It is a must read if you love well written prose. It is a must read if you love poetry. It is a must read if you love to explore the outdoors. It is a must read if you love living things. It is a must read if you want to become a better writer. It is a must read if you want to learn how to observe animals, especially Foxes. It is a must read if you want to be a better human.

Read it. Reread it. Also get the audiobook too. The audiobook features the field recordings of Foxes making noises. Spectacular.

Pairs well with:
All work by Helen Macdonald
All work by John McPhee
The Book of Unconformities by Hugh Raffles ( )