Great author but this one feels like a rehash

John D Burns is a great author but I feel like this book was largely a rehash of his previous work. The theme of wildlife took second place to sitting in bothies with old friends, which is a shame because I really enjoyed the descriptions of animals such as sea eagles. The end of the book is focused on the coronavirus pandemic and an interesting discussion about access to the countryside at the end of lockdown. I’m sure John has another book in him about the social aspects of land ownership and land use rights, but I think chatting to Martin in dark bothies has probably reached the end of its literary potential.

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1 person found this helpful

A light but thought-provoking listen

In October 2019, John Burns wrote a bucket list of things he wanted to see in Scotland’s winter that year. Rutting deer, seals, otters, mountain hares, pine martens, sea eagles, whales. Wild Winter by John D Burns is his account of that winter; finding some of that list easier to come by than others.

It didn’t take me long to get into this book, I liked the style of the storytelling, it seemed to be very real and unexaggerated. I wondered if I would be able to associate with someone as experienced and adventurous as Burns, but I was happy to feel included as Burns moved through from October through to March.

I found myself smiling and even laughing at times, sometimes through agreement with Burns (such as on his notes on how no hiker likes heavy rain despite what raincoat advertising photos might suggest), and sometimes because it was just funny (such as Martin’s recurring encounters with train officials).
Through all this wildlife watching and winter hiking, he also speaks of our place in the landscape, the quirks of rural living, and the changing shape of what it means to be a hiker and climber in Scotland’s wilderness. Burns also takes time to discuss the dark side of nature in Scotland – the burnt grouse moors, land made intentionally inaccessible, deer number management, and a rural economy funded by shooting sports.

Of course, we all know what happened at the end of that particular winter, and I appreciate the way Burns speaks about how the vague rumour of a coronavirus became full lockdown, a restriction on freedom to explore and visit the places he loves. The pandemic had significant impact on our wildlife both in urban and rural areas, and so it’s an important topic to tackle.

I really did enjoy this. It has a good mixture of that wildlife bucket list, the hiking and bothy adventures Burns goes on as a result, stories of the people he spends time with, and thoughts about the land. It’s light enough to accompany a long car journey, but thought-provoking enough to make me sit up and take note. Burns has a number of other books which I will now add to my to-read list as a result.

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2 people found this helpful

a persecution against gamekeepers and landowners

a lot of nonsense is written in this book, which portrays gamekeepers and large estates as the big bad wolf. Yet again a misinformed individual takes it upon themselves to blame and I quote "the men in tweed" for the current state of scottish wildlife.
it doesn't tell you that almost 90% of raptors are seen, live, roost and breed on gamekeeper kept grousemoors and estates.
it doesn't tell you that 87% of scottish "rewilding projects" have failed and continue to fail.
without wealthy landowners and gamekeepers and estate workers, this clown wouldn't have a bothy to skulk off too and write a book blaming them for all that's bad in the world, and make money off that, oh the irony.
absolutely abomination of a book. stuff of nonsense

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