The ravens at the Tower of London are of mighty importance: rumor has it that if a raven from the Tower should ever leave, the city will fall. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.The first behind-the-scenes account of life with the legendary ravens at the world’s eeriest monument Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. To order a copy for £11.49 (RRP £14.99) go to or call 03. The Ravenmaster is published by Hamish Hamilton.

The ravens have been my teachers and I have been their pupil.” “In learning about the ravens,” Skaife writes, “I have discovered a lot about what it means to be a human: I’ve learned to listen, to observe, and to be still. This is not a work of natural history but a wonderfully personal account. They are, he says, “the soldier’s natural ally”.

With their iridescent black plumage, the birds have long been associated with death and war. He was once summoned by the sound of tourists screaming: a raven had caught a pigeon and was eating it “from the inside out while it was still alive” next to a queue for the Jewel House. They are equipped with a vicious beak (“as good as any axe or razor”) and powerful talons. Ravens are big: some two feet high, with a wingspan of up to four feet and weighing two and a half pounds. He admits the ravens are now “my life”.Ī natural storyteller, Skaife writes with affection and insight about these powerful, unpredictable and highly intelligent birds. After two decades of military service he applied to be a Yeoman Warder. Skaife grew up in Dover at the age of 16, after some run-ins with the police and fights with local gangs, he left to join the army: “My parents probably thought, well, if it’s not that, he’s going to end up in jail.” It was, he says, “the best decision I ever made”. As Skaife neatly puts it: “I look after the ravens – and the ravens look after us.” As if that isn’t Gormenghastian enough, Skaife is also the Tower’s ravenmaster, responsible for the safety and welfare of the seven fearsome, black-as-night corvids on whose continued residence at the Tower the fate of the nation depends, at least according to legend. He is one of the former soldiers who are selected to be the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London and custodians of its ancient rituals. His official title is Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London. C hristopher Skaife has what he describes as “the oddest job in Britain”.

Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife