The Ravenmaster, Christopher Skaife
The Ravenmaster, Christopher Skaife
List: $22.99 | Sale: $16.09
Club: $11.49

The Ravenmaster
My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London

Author: Christopher Skaife

Narrator: Christopher Skaife

Unabridged: 6 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/02/2018


Synopsis

"[Christopher Skaife's] natural storyteller's charm results in a performance that is conversational, funny, and self-deprecating...Ravenmaster is a joyful listening experience." — AudioFile Magazine

This program is read by the author.

The first behind-the-scenes account of life with the legendary ravens at the world’s eeriest monument.

The ravens at the Tower of London are of mighty importance: rumor has it that if a raven from the Tower should ever leave, the city will fall.

The title of Ravenmaster, therefore, is a serious title indeed, and after decades of serving the Queen, Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife took on the added responsibility of caring for the infamous ravens. In The Ravenmaster, he lets listeners in on his life as he feeds his birds raw meat and biscuits soaked in blood, buys their food at Smithfield Market, and ensures that these unusual, misunderstood, and utterly brilliant corvids are healthy, happy, and ready to captivate the four million tourists who flock to the Tower every year.

A rewarding, intimate, and inspiring partnership has developed between the ravens and their charismatic and charming human, the Ravenmaster, who shares the folklore, history, and superstitions surrounding the ravens and the Tower. Shining a light on the behavior of the birds, their pecking order and social structure, and the tricks they play on us, Skaife shows who the Tower’s true guardians really are—and the result is a compelling and irreverent audiobook that will surprise and enchant.

About Christopher Skaife

Christopher Skaife is Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) and Ravenmaster at the Tower of London. He has served in the British Army for twenty-four years, during which time he became a machine-gun specialist as well as an expert in survival and interrogation resistance. He has been featured on the History Channel, PBS, the BBC, Buzzfeed, Slate, and more. He lives at the Tower with his wife and, of course, the ravens.


Reviews

Goodreads review by jv on February 18, 2024

Months ago, I read a blurb about The Ravenmaster in The Week magazine and I had been trying to get to it since then. Admittedly, it took a while. Totally worth the wait. This book amused & delighted me as I read it, and again whenever parts popped into my head. Mr. Skaife seems to be a natural story......more

Goodreads review by Trish on October 07, 2018

I've been a fan of ravens for a long time and always detested their bad reputation thanks to silly old superstitions that seem to mostly derive from their physical appearance and the fact that they are omnivores. Especially the latter seems only yet another sign of their extreme intelligence because......more

Goodreads review by Trish on October 17, 2018

Some might have already seen my review for this book. As mentioned before, this edition here is actually the one I wanted because the cover is much more beautiful, showing raven Merlina as well as the Ravenmaster and the Tower, hinting at the history theme that also permeates this great story along w......more

Goodreads review by Jim on April 23, 2024

What a wonderful book! I have no problem giving this one *****! And a big reason is that the story is told in such an entertaining manner by Christopher Skaife, the keeper of the ravens at the Tower of London. I feel that I am sitting there in a pub listening to the man telling us his story. I imagi......more

A group of ravens is called an "unkindness" or a "conspiracy" but the ravens at the Tower of London are revered. This book by “Ravenmaster” Chris Skaife is part memoir, part ornithology, part history and part mythology. Skaife had been a soldier for about a quarter of a century before leaving for the......more


Quotes

Author and narrator Christopher Skaife['s]...natural storyteller's charm results in a performance that is conversational, funny, and self-deprecating. ...RAVENMASTER is a joyful listening experience." -AudioFile


Awards

  • Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year