It's a delight to jump into this slightly strange parallel world. Galbraith is such an able communicator of its weirdness, that it is a pleasure to go along for the ride' The Times He explained to me that Galloway has changed so much, the loss of cattle, the loss of small farms and the families that worked them, and the planting of non-native trees. In terms of both scope and execution, this book is a hugely impressive achievement, and it will be fascinating to see where Galbraith goes from here.' The Scotsman

A treasury of a book [...] filled with beautiful moments, amazing and sometimes rather surprising characters, and, if we could only learn from them, reasons for hope." Ultimately, it emerges that many of the birds Galbraith encounters could thrive, but it would require much better cooperation between those who are caught up in the struggle for their future. One of the great oral histories of British nature and the British countryside [...] Sad and honest and important and often very funny"For a while we walked in silence and then I asked her why the ­fishermen thought the corncrakes had gone. “Just greed,” she replied, “they’d have said it was greed.” I've given three stars rather than two because there are still some shining moments in the book, but you have to wade through a lot of non-important stuff to get to them.

Voice after voice in In Search of One Last Song talks urgently of the need to recalibrate imbalances in the natural environment – and those who sound most frustrated are those who feel their hands most senselessly tied.

Our wild places and wildlife are disappearing at a terrifying rate. This is a story about going in search of the people who are trying to save our birds, as well as confronting the enormity of what losing them would really mean. Certain themes, though, emerge – foremost among them the environmental consequences of intensive agriculture. From mechanised harvesting to pesticide use; from the practice of winter cropping (fatally disruptive to the nesting habits of both lapwings and grey partridges) to, above all, the decline of the small but biodiverse ‘patchwork’ farm in favour of 50-acre fields of ‘arable desert’.

For In Search of One Last Song is very far from being any kind of polemic. Its ambition (in which it has succeeded) has instead been to assemble a gallery portrait of extraordinary human beings with extraordinary visions – quixotic souls, for the most part, tilting against images of paradise lost. Galbraith's writing is beautiful [...] In Search of One Last Song feels like an important step in the right direction" The trouble, though, is that farming a small herd of slow-growing native cattle such as Highlands is so marginal that lots of crofters are being forced to sell up to wealthy holiday makers, who are ­detached from the rhythms of the land. Galbraith combines the ability to write lyrically with a formidable grasp of his subject” - The WeekSometimes these birds figure as direct links to precious personal histories. ‘Heard it purring in the hedge,’ remembers Graham Denny in Suffolk, thirteen days after his father died, ‘and I just howled and howled. Turtle doves is something I shared with my dad my whole life.’ Full Book Name: In Search of One Last Song: Britain’s disappearing birds and the people trying to save them

One of the great oral histories of British nature and the British countryside ... Sad and honest and important and often very funny' Richard Smyth, Review 31 So, casting aside any preconceptions I have spent much of the last two days reading this excellent book. It will, for sure, be one of my books of the year for 2022.In Search of One Last Song mixes conservation, folklore, history, and art. Through talking to musicians, writers and poets, whose work is inspired by the birds he manages to see, such as the nightingale and the capercaillie, Galbraith creates a picture of the immense cultural void that would be left behind if these birds were gone. Wonderful and enriching’ Adam Nicolson ‘The best book on conservation and the countryside I have read in years’ John Lewis-Stempel ‘A modern pastoral written with intelligence, wit and lyricism’ Cal Flyn If there is hope, though, for the corncrake it lies in the crofting system of the Western Isles. Traditionally, crofters run native cattle on their land in the winter which eat down the grass before being put out on the hill in spring. This coincides with corncrakes returning from Africa, and as one crofter, up on Uist put it to me, “the birds have the run of the place all summer long”. Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse. The writing is strong, the book an impressive debut, establishing Galbraith as a quality writer.' Tim Dee, Caught by the River