The sparrow is one of the most widely distributed wild birds in the world and the urban neighbor we most easily overlook. It can live near the Arctic Circle and make its home among desert dunes and city skyscrapers; from Beijing to San Francisco, the house sparrow is almost everywhere. Precisely because it is so everyday, the sparrow plays an unusually complex role in human culture: it appears in elegies and essays as a pitiable and endearing little creature, yet has also been branded a grain-stealing pest and culled on a massive scale; in Europe it is a fixture of country courtyards, while in North America its introduction made it a central figure in the debate over invasive species. This book is a volume in Reaktion Books' Animal Series, and its author, science and natural history writer Kim Todd, follows the sparrow across ornithology, natural history, and literary tradition: she discusses the differences in form, habits, and habitat between Old World and New World sparrows, revisits the nineteenth-century American "sparrow war" sparked by the introduction of the English sparrow, and considers the sparrow's image in poetry, fable, and religious texts, as well as how it became a living textbook for understanding evolution and domestication. The book also pays special attention to the quiet decline of urban house sparrows—why a bird that once seemed destined for success has become scarce in many places remains an ornithological puzzle. Richly illustrated, from early woodcuts and medieval illuminated manuscripts to modern wildlife photography, it is the first book-length systematic survey of the sparrow's natural and cultural history. This small volume, brought into Chinese by the SDX Joint Publishing Company's New Knowledge Library, pushes the familiar sparrow back into view: after reading it, you will likely look differently at the small gray-brown bird on your windowsill.
麻雀大概是中国人最熟悉、也最不认真看的鸟。它从来不在“名鸟”之列——不如鹤清高，不如鹰雄壮，连文化意象都常被拿来比喻志向短浅。可正是这样一只小鸟，横跨旧大陆与新大陆，被写进罗马诗人的挽歌，也被列入“四害”名单；既能在机场和车库的缝隙里筑巢，也能在引入新大陆后把本地鸟类逼到墙角。 本书最有趣的地方，是它把“麻雀”当成一个纠缠不清的概念来处理：旧大陆的麻雀、新大陆的“麻雀”、历史上曾被叫作麻雀的鸟，彼此之间并不完全是一回事。作者没有急着替读者梳理出一个干净的定义，而是让生物学的差异、贸易与移民的历史、物种引入的争论、文学中的意象层层叠上来。19世纪美国的“麻雀战争”尤其值得一读——一场为治理虫害而引入外来鸟类的计划，如何在几十年后演变成关于入侵物种的长期争论，这个案例至今仍有现实感。 书还顺手把麻雀的当下处境摆了出来：那个仿佛注定要在城市里繁衍下去的物种，近几十年在许多地方悄悄少了。对习惯了“麻雀到处都是”的读者来说，这是全书最值得停一停的地方。三联“新知文库”的这套小开本动物系列，配上从木刻版画到现代照片的丰富插图，读起来轻，收进去的信息却不少。适合想从一只普通鸟出发，把自然史、文化史和生态议题串起来看的读者。
SDX Joint Publishing Company is a publisher known for its humanities and social science titles, covering classics, culture, history, social fiction and politics. Its catalogue of 826 books includes Chinese and foreign literary classics such as The Scholars, Camel Xiangzi and Selected Short Stories of Chekhov, scholarly works such as Studies of Chinese Cave Temples, A Study of the Tuoba History (Revised Edition) and The Nine-Rank System: A Prehistory of the Imperial Examination, and translations such as Red Star Over China and Notes from the House of the Dead. Its authors include renowned Chinese and foreign writers such as Wu Jingzi, Lao She, Su Bai and Chekhov, as well as scholars and translators such as Chen Xiaoming, Wang Benhua, Guo Changbao and Zhu Xiansheng. Its publishing character lies in balancing the popularisation of classics with academic depth, with attention to textual quality and the transmission of knowledge.
这本书是谁写的，属于哪套丛书？
作者是科学与自然史写作者金·托德（Kim Todd），原书为Reaktion Books“动物系列”的《Sparrow》。中文版由生活·读书·新知三联书店收入“新知文库”出版，属于该文库的动物主题小开本系列。
这本书是麻雀的图鉴或饲养手册吗？
不是。它是一部以麻雀为中心的自然史与文化史随笔，讨论麻雀的生物学、引入史和文学形象，不提供物种检索表、分布图或饲养指导。
书里讲的“麻雀”包括哪些鸟？
书中区分了旧大陆麻雀（如家麻雀）与新大陆麻雀，也提到历史上曾被称作麻雀的其他鸟类。作者并不把“麻雀”当作一个整齐的单一物种，而是作为一组纠缠的概念来处理。
适合给孩子当科普读物吗？
可以，但更偏向青少年以上的读者。文字平易、插图丰富，不过涉及物种引入史和生态争论，低龄儿童需要家长或老师带着一起读。
三联“新知文库”是同一套丛书吗？
是。新知文库是三联书店的系列丛书，涵盖人文社科与自然科学，不同册由不同作者撰写。本书是其中动物主题的一种，可与同系列其他动物、鸟类读物对照阅读。
