My Family and Other Animals is the bewitching account of a rare and magical childhood on the
island of Corfu by treasured British conservationist Gerald Durrell beautifully repackaged as
part of the Penguin Essentials range.'What we all need ' said Larry 'is sunshine...a country
where we can grow.''Yes dear that would be nice ' agreed Mother not really listening. 'I had
a letter from George this morning - he says Corfu's wonderful. Why don't we pack up and go to
Greece?''Very well dear if you like ' said Mother unguardedly. Escaping the ills of the
British climate the Durrell family - acne-ridden Margo gun-toting Leslie bookworm Lawrence
and budding naturalist Gerry along with their long-suffering mother and Roger the dog - take
off for the island of Corfu.But the Durrells find that reluctantly they must share their
various villas with a menagerie of local fauna - among them scorpions geckos toads bats and
butterflies.Recounted with immense humour and charm My Family and Other Animals is a wonderful
account of a rare magical childhood.'Durrell has an uncanny knack of discovering human as well
as animal eccentricities' Sunday Telegraph'A bewitching book' Sunday TimesGerald Durrell was
born in Jamshedpur India in 1925. He returned to England in 1928 before settling on the
island of Corfu with his family. In 1945 he joined the staff of Whipsnade Park as a student
keeper and in 1947 he led his first animal-collecting expedition to the Cameroons. He later
undertook numerous further expeditions visiting Paraguay Argentina Sierra Leone Mexico
Mauritius Assam and Madagascar. His first television programme Two in the Bush¸ which
documented his travels to New Zealand Australia and Malaya was made in 1962 he went on to
make seventy programmes about his trips around the world. In 1959 he founded the Jersey
Zoological Park and in 1964 he founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. He was awarded
the OBE in 1982. Encouraged to write about his life's work by his brother Durrell published
his first book The Overloaded Ark in 1953. It soon became a bestseller and he went on to
write thirty-six other titles including My Family and Other Animals The Bafut Beagles
Encounters with Animals The Drunken Forest A Zoo in My Luggage The Whispering Land
Menagerie Manor The Amateur Naturalist and The Aye-Aye and I. Gerald Durrell died in 1995.
