Gerald Durell (1925-1995) was born in Jamshedpur, India. As a little boy, his family went back to England and later settled on the Greek island of Corfu. He spent his time there studying its wildlife. He relates to his experiences in Corfu in the set of three books, beginning with My Family and Other Animals, continuing with Birds, Beasts and Relatives and ending with The Garden of the Gods. His stories are usually humorous and have  a great awareness of both the humans and the animals he met.