Darwin's Orchestra: An Almanac of Nature in History and the Arts (Henry Holt Reference Book)

This wonderful day-by-day journal consists of 366 essays - one for each day of the year, including one for leap year - spanning a time frame of more than 2,500 years, and ranging in subject from an eclipse that halted a battle in 585 B.C. to the last days of Calvin and Hobbes. Packed with little-known anecdotes about well-known figures, it will appeal to history buffs as much as to natural history devotees. Readers will be intrigued to find a "nature almanac" filled with such figures as Sherlock Holmes, Alfred Hitchcock, Bugs Bunny, and Bela Lugosi's Dracula. History fans may be surprised to learn about Josephine Baker's menagerie and Emperor Hirohito's hobby. As it roams across history and culture, this volume will delight its readers through whimsical connections, fascinating facts, and ironic observations.