Unicorns is a small book devote to exploring the history of the myth of the unicorn and considering which real animals contributed to the myth. It's less whimsical than I assumed when I picked it up off a remainder table. Lavers loses me in quotes from ancient texts and subtleties of symbolism a time or two---I enjoyed the bits about the real animals better. But it was informative, entertaining, and short. I'm glad I borrowed this rather than paying out money for it: not that there's anything inherently wrong with Lavers' accessible and entertaining examination of the unicorn. But it was only the first four chapters that held my attention. There he examines the sources of the mythology and interprets the judaeo-christian icon and those famous tapestries of Verteuil. But after that it becomes a hunt for the true source of all the alicorn that was washing round medieval Europe, and various explorers' tales. That had more to do with natural history, as the title says, whereas I would have preferred more on art and cultural history.
This book is a testament to good research. As such, it tugs at all of my librarian heart strings.
—rrrrr
Way more than I ever wanted to know about unicorns.
—cat
Very well done, just ended a bit abruptly.
—LuLu
Not as awesome as I wanted it to be.
—Mags