You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
In 1970 Roger Deakin acquired Walnut Tree Farm, a semi-ruined Elizabethan farmhouse deep in the countryside of northern Suffolk, on the edge of Mellis Green, the largest area of common grazing land in England. The house's thatch and roof beams were rotting; pigs and hens had been its last occupants and the floors were ankle deep in shit. Leaving swinging London behind, Deakin bought the farm in a spirit of 'back to the land' fervour; and, in the coming decades, lovingly restored it. Deakin lived here until his death in 2006, dredging the moat (in which he swam daily), planting woods and buying more of the surrounding fields, where he grew hay and wild flowers. Walnut Tree Farm became a place...
The Old Ways is the stunning new book by acclaimed nature writer Robert Macfarlane.Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize 2012In The Old Ways Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove-roads and sea paths that form part of a vast network of routes criss-crossing the British landscape and its waters, and connecting them to the continents beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, of pilgrimage and ritual, and of songlines and their singers. Above all this is a book about people and place: about walking as a reconnoitre inwards, and t...
BEST BOOK OF 2023 ACCORDING TO THE NEWSTATESMAN AND OBSERVER 'The Swimmer is a wonderful, original achievement; teeming with stories, glittering with images, and experimental in form and tone' Robert Macfarlane Roger Deakin, author of the immortal Waterlog, was a man of many parts: maverick ad-man, cider-maker, teacher, environmentalist, music promoter and filmmaker. But, above all, he was the restorer of ancient Walnut Tree Farm in Suffolk, the heartland where he wrote about all natural life – with rare attention, intimacy, precision and poetry. Roger Deakin was unique, and so too is this joyful work of creative biography, told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues and lovers. Delving deep into Deakin’s library of words, Patrick Barkham draws from notebooks, diaries, letters and recordings to conjure his voice back to glorious life in these pages. 'A rich, strange and compelling work of creative memoir that beautifully honours and elevates the life and work of its subject' Alex Preston, Observer
There are still wild places out there on our crowded planet. Through a series of personal journeys, Dan Richards explores the appeal of far-flung outposts in mountains, tundra, forests, oceans and deserts. Following a route from the Cairngorms of Scotland to the fire-watch lookouts of Washington State; from Iceland’s ‘Houses of Joy’ to the Utah desert; frozen ghost towns in Svalbard to shrines in Japan; Roald Dahl’s writing hut to a lighthouse in the North Atlantic, Richards explores landscapes which have inspired writers, artists and musicians, and asks: why are we drawn to wilderness? What can we do to protect them? And what does the future hold for outposts on the edge?
LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE The collected writings from one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers. 'Barkham is an outstanding author.' CHRIS PACKHAM 'Wonder-filled . . . A treat. Patrick knows how to tell a good story, and that combination of kindness, wonder and good fortune that seems to be present in his own life shines through.' CAUGHT BY THE RIVER What is happening to nature? What are we as a species doing about it? What have we learned? Wild Green Wonders paints a portrait of contemporary wildlife, bearing witness to the many changes imposed upon the planet and the challenges lying ahead for the future of nature. From peregrine falcons nesting by the Thames to a conversation with Sir David Attenborough; from protests against the HS2 railway to an encounter with Britain's last lion tamer, this collection - drawn from twenty years' worth of Patrick Barkham's writing for the Guardian - forms a joyful, fascinating and enlightening chronicle of one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers. 'Outstanding nature journalism.' HORATIO CLARE 'A heralded nature writer.' THE TIMES 'A lovely, fluid writer.' DAILY MAIL
The Alfa Romeo 105 series Spider is one of the most admired drop-head sports cars to come out of Italy. Launched in 1966, its radical new look was not immediately welcomed. As prospective buyers gradually warmed to the model, enhancements were introduced including more powerful engines and higher-spec body and interior fittings. Despite its inauspicious start, production of this much-admired car lasted for twenty-seven years, finally stopping in 1993. Jim Talbott and Andrew Brown pay homage to the 105/115 series Alfa Spider. With over 330 photographs, many specially commissioned, this new book describes the Alfa Romeo company history including its philosophy of incorporating driver appeal into all of its products, resulting in some of the most desirable vehicles of their age; it details the evolution of the 105/115 series through four distinct body styles; lists the technical design specifications and every major version of the Spider and finally, discusses the issues and challenges of finding and owning a classic Spider.
In De oude wegen onderzoekt Robert Macfarlane het verband tussen paden, wandelen en de verbeelding. Veel van het denkwerk ervoor verzette hij lopend. Het vertelt het verhaal van ruim duizend mijl wandelen over oude wegen, op zoek naar een route naar het verleden – met als resultaat dat hij telkens weer bij het heden uitkomt. Het is een onderzoek naar de geesten en de stemmen die op oude paden rondwaren, naar de verhalen die ze in zich dragen en vertellen, naar pelgrimages en erfvredebreuk, naar gezongen routes en degenen die ze zingen en naar de vreemde continenten die er binnen landen bestaan. Bovenal is het een boek over de mens en zijn omgeving: over lopen als een verkenning van het innerlijk en over de subtiele manier waarop we zijn gevormd door de landschappen waar we ons doorheen begeven.
The captivity narrative has always been a literary genre associated with America. Joe Snader argues, however, that captivity narratives emerged much earlier in Britain, coinciding with European colonial expansion, the development of anthropology, and the rise of liberal political thought. Stories of Europeans held captive in the Middle East, America, Africa, and Southeast Asia appeared in the British press from the late sixteenth through the late eighteenth centuries, and captivity narratives were frequently featured during the early development of the novel. Until the mid-eighteenth century, British examples of the genre outpaced their American cousins in length, frequency of publication, a...
Une histoire des routes et de ceux qui les ont empruntées. " Il existe entre l'écriture et la marche une alliance presque aussi ancienne que la littérature : pas de randonnée sans histoire, pas de chemin qui ne raconte quelque chose. " Robert Macfarlane a passé des années à parcourir les routes et à interroger les liens entre les hommes et le paysage. Tout commence un jour de printemps, quand il quitte sa maison de Cambridge pour suivre un ancien chemin de craie. Une aventure de trois ans le mène sur des voies antiques, des routes maritimes, des chemins de pèlerinage, des routes fracturées par la guerre et des sentiers escarpés de haute montagne. Il suit la trace de marcheurs ava...