Review: The Wit & Wisdom of David Attenborough, by Chas Newkey-Burden

Blurb

Description
A fascinating and entertaining collection of facts, quotes and stories,
celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s wicked sense of humour and astute
wisdom.
David Attenborough is a national treasure, known for his soothing voice, calming presence, passion for the natural world, and his humble, easy-going nature. Despite his incredible talent and influence, he tends to play it all down, one time stating that, ‘I can’t believe I’m still employed’.

So if he won’t celebrate himself, we’ll have to do it for him. Filled with facts, tributes and anecdotes, as well as beautiful illustrations, this enormously
positive book celebrates Sir David, providing a fascinating insight into his life as well as showcasing his brilliant sense of humour. Running chronologically, this book begins with his early days, to his first job at the BBC, to eventually becoming the most esteemed naturalist on the planet, as he is today.

Such revelations include:

• There are 18 plants and animals named after him
• When asked by a reporter how many degrees he had, he said it would be ‘rude to
  count’*
• The single thing that would improve his quality of life is ‘good, workable knees’.
  Blending his quips galore with his powerful messages on the environment and future of
  the planet, this timely book showcases everything we love about Sir David, making it the
  perfect gift for any fan.
• *He has over thirty!

My Review

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book and to Anne, of Random Things Tours, for organising this tour.

This book covers Sir David Attenborough’s biography and his life in nature programming on the BBC.

The book is small, pocket-sized, and full of details about Attenborough’s life as both a naturalist and a television producer and personality. His voice has educated millions about the world from the 1950s to the present, accompanied by glorious imagery.

There are some fun and fascinating stories from his childhood to now, but they especially cover his career in the BBC and his adventures around the world. These are fun and give an insight into how the broadcasting world has changed in the last 70 years.

We learn from this book that Attenborough gives a great deal of credit to the camera operators who do the work out in the field, that he’s self-deprecating about his abilities and is grateful for the ability to continue working even into his late 90s.

We also learn that, while he’s a climate change campaigner and environmentalist, he doesn’t understand what feminist means. A feminist is a person who advocates for equal rights for women. Which he does. However, he claims to be a humanist, ‘not one side over the other’. Which is not what feminism or, or for that matter what humanism is.

He also advocates for population control. The population debate is a fraught and often racist one. Yes, education, access to healthcare and contraceptives, a stable natural and social environment, decreases birth rates and improves quality of life, but the people who desperately need these things are the ones using by far the least amount of resources and produce the least amount of climate damaging gases.

And they’re mostly people of colour. So, it can be a racist position to take, depending on how and why you believe it.

In Attenborough’s case, he also says that people using the most resources need to use less, and that we mustn’t waste resources, so I think his position is that of improving the lives of people reduces birth rates and decreases population growth, which is part of the battle to reduce resource use by humans. Given his respectful interaction with indigenous groups across his career and his love of the diversity of human cultures, I don’t think he has a racist reason.

I enjoyed learning more about the life of Sir David Attenborough and think it a fine addition to the libraries of people who also collect Attenborough’s books and series/film DVDs. I love the illustrations, especially the watercolour image of the cover.

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Author Biography

Writer Chas Newkey-Burden is the author of over 30 books including Great Email Disasters and a best-selling biography of Amy Winehouse. His magazine work has included interviewing celebrities like David Beckham and Ricky Gervais