Birds, Sex and Beauty: The extraordinary implications of Charles Darwin’s strangest idea

‘Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers. Author of The Red Queen, he here revisits the fascinating and controversial topic of sexual selection, this time in a series of penetrating meditations from his hide, as he watches the courtship rituals of grouse, peacocks, snipe, ruffs and others. The book is a treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike’ Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene ‘Matt Ridley is both an inspiring nature writer and a limpid science explainer, and this book is filled with beauty and insight’ Steven Pinker, author of Rationality and Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University ‘A tour de force! Simply the best account – among a great many – of Darwin’s ground-breaking and far-reaching concept of sexual selection, from its inception to our current understanding inspired by the tale of a black grouse’ Tim Birkhead, author of The Wisdom of Birds ‘In his highly readable book Ridley suggests that if we suppose our own evolution conforms to general patterns found throughout nature, perhaps it has been manifestations of wit, intelligence and mind that have appealed, over the eons, to the females of our own lineage’ Jonathan Kingdon, author of Origin Africa ‘A heady tour through the ideas about sexual selection, but it is more than a summary of the history of thought; it is also a commentary on how we share an appreciation of beauty with much of the natural world, whether that be in colour, movement or song … This book shows that sexual behaviour continues to be a mystery worthy of investigation’ Mary Colwell, author of Curlew Moon ‘Gorgeous and great fun … Readers will be enchanted and enlightened’ Stewart Brand, editor of Whole Earth Catalog ‘A captivating journey into the dazzling world of avian courtship, where feathers, dances and songs reveal the secrets of evolution – and offer a mirror to our own desires and dilemmas’ Steve Stewart-Williams, Professor of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia