A Shadow Above

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For centuries, the raven (corvus corax) has stalked us in life and in death. Excavations of Bronze Age settlements in Britain have revealed raven bones mingled with human remains. The Viking and Norman warriors that stormed these shores did so sporting ravens on their shields and banners. Yet by the 1700s this relationship between humans and the raven had soured. The birds came to be regarded as vermin - representative of something deeper and more visceral - and were driven out of towns and cities with a hatred that moved into savagery. This book details the history of the bird that embodies our best and worst impulses, and symbolises our deepest fears.