Cover critique

Another busy day on planet Poyser. Besides the usual hurricane of frantic activity, I approved two more titles for the launch of the mighty Poyser backlist - Malcolm Ogilvie's Ducks of Britain and Europe, and Mike Brooke's The Manx Shearwater. Great books both, and Ducks has a particularly pleasing retro cover.

You can't beat a nice Eider.

Poyser has never been afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to cover art. Check out this funky number from 1981's Estuary Birds of Britain and Ireland:

My fave is actually quite a bit more recent. Its one I commisioned in 2005 by Norfolk artist James MacCallum, and it still has the power to divide – loved and loathed in equal measure. But I think when its taken in tandem with the back, which matches it quite brilliantly, its one of the best all-round jackets in the series. What do you think?