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Cover of Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell

Ring of Bright Water

Gavin Maxwell, Kate Humble and others

  • 223 pages · about 4 hours
  • First published 1960
  • 48 editions
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1 About this book

Ring of Bright Water is a book by Gavin Maxwell about his life in a remote house in coastal Scotland where he kept several wild otters as pets. First published in 1960, it became a best seller and is considered a literary masterpiece, eventually selling over two million copies. A fictionalised film of the same name was made from it and released in 1969.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Good for readers who want: nature, a true life story, and the environment.

  • Country life
  • Natural history
  • Biography
  • Scotland, biography
  • Nature conservation
  • Environmental protection
  • Anecdotes
  • Homes and haunts

2 About Gavin Maxwell

1914–1969

Gavin Maxwell Frsl Fzs Frgs (15 July 1914 – 7 September 1969) was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He became most famous for Ring of Bright Water (1960), which described his experiences raising otters from Iraq and West Africa on the west coast of Scotland.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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