Always curious about the unwritten books people ponder, and I like Winder’s quirkiness in noticing this obvious gap in the market. If anybody could write the definitive zoo architecture book, it is he, as he has a splendid eye for astonishing detail and a lively wit.

I have often turned over in my mind the idea of writing a book about zoo architecture. This neglected form of building is so rich and so peculiar and it has never really had its due. It is an amalgam of shop-window, display, storage facility and prison … The buildings tend to be very solid so that their inhabitants do not get out and kill everyone.

For other examples of Winder wry-ting, see our celebration of his earlier book, Germania.

Source: Simon Winder, Danubia: A personal history of Habsburg Europe (London: Picador, 2013), p. 395

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