A Green and Pleasant Land

How England’s Gardeners Fought the Second World War

Ursula Buchan

$24.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Windmill Books
15 April 2014

British & Irish history; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Second World War; Gardening; Nostalgia: general

'War is the normal occupation of man - war and gardening' Winston Churchill

SHORTLISTED FOR INSPIRATIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2014 GARDEN MEDIA GUILD AWARDS.

The wonderfully evocative story of how Britain's World War Two gardeners - with great ingenuity, invincible good humour and extraordinary fortitude - dug for victory on home turf.

A Green and Pleasant Land tells the intriguing and inspiring story of how Britain's wartime government encouraged and cajoled its citizens to grow their own fruit and vegetables. As the Second World War began in earnest and a whole nation listened to wireless broadcasts, dug holes for Anderson shelters, counted their coupons and made do and mended, so too were they instructed to 'Dig for Victory'.

Ordinary people, as well as gardening experts, rose to the challenge- gardens, scrubland, allotments and even public parks were soon helping to feed a nation deprived of fresh produce. As Ursula Buchan reveals, this practical contribution to the Home Front was tackled with thrifty ingenuity, grumbling humour and extraordinary fortitude. The simple act of turning over soil and tending new plants became important psychologically for a population under constant threat of bombing and even invasion. Gardening reminded people that their country and its more innocent and insular pursuits were worth fighting for. Gardening in wartime Britain was a part of the fight for freedom.

By: Ursula Buchan
Imprint: Windmill Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 278g
ISBN: 9780099558668
ISBN 10: 0099558661
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 15 April 2014
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ursula Buchan studied modern history at Cambridge University, before training as a horticulturist at the RHS Gardens, Wisley and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She wrote a gardening column for a succession of national newspapers, including the Observer, Sunday Telegraph and Daily Telegraph, as well as The Spectator, for more than twenty-five years. Shehas published fifteen books and won two major writing awards from the Garden Media Guild. She was recently awarded the Garden Media Guild's Gardening Columnist of the Year 2011.

Reviews for A Green and Pleasant Land: How England’s Gardeners Fought the Second World War

[A Green And Pleasant Land is] this year's most stimulating work of Horticultural History...an exhaustively researched, possibly definitive, and occasionally myth-dispelling account of the role of gardeners, amateur and professional, in World War II. Morning Star Informative and highly entertaining Daily Mail Meticulously researched, gripping and often humorous -- Leslie Geddes Brown Country Life Elegantly written and rich with horticultural vignettes Spectator Buchan's book provides an intriguing glimpse of horticultural life in war conditions ... [An] excellent book, both touching and informative on a historical level. Lady