Birds—those “upgiven ghosts” who shape our skies—and their many styles of flying have inspired us for centuries. Enthralled with birds since he was a young boy, Tim Dee describes their allure in compelling, poetic prose as he follows these magnificent creatures on land, at sea, and in the air over the course of a year. A memoir of the author’s life as well as a stirring account of bird migrations and the enticements of flight, the book explores the ideas and feelings that birds awaken by their flying.

A Year on the Wing is also a significant chronicle of Dee’s rich reading of a gorgeous literary and naturalist tradition about birds, and achieves a marvelous commingling of nature and language, finding meaning and a fascinating beauty in the quiver of a redstart’s tail, in the thrilling skydiving stoop of the once-endangered now resurgent peregrine falcon, and the nocturnal restlessness of migrant woodcocks. Watching birds instills a renewed sense of wonder in us all, and this beautifully written memoir celebrates birds and the inspiration they give as it expands our horizons.