Woodston

The Biography of An English Farm – The Sunday Times Bestseller

John Lewis-Stempel

$55.95

Hardback

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English

Doubleday
08 July 2021

History; Rural trades & skills; Wildlife: general interest; The countryside, country life; Family history, tracing ancestors

The story of a typical English farm, and with it the fascinating history of the English countryside, by the award-winning, bestselling author whose family has worked the land for centuries.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Lewis-Stempel

is one of our finest nature writers ... He writes with delicate observation and authority, giving us in Woodston a book teeming with fascinating details, anecdotes and penetrating insights into the real cost of our denatured countryside.' - Sunday Times

'The English countryside is 'a work of human art, done by the many and the nameless' and John Lewis-Stempel wanted to celebrate it. He has succeeded admirably.'

- Daily Mail

In the beginning was the earth...

From the Paleozoic volcanoes that stained its soil, to the Saxons who occupied it, to the Tudors who traded its wool, to the Land Girls of wartime, John Lewis-Stempel charts a sweeping, lyrical history of Woodston- the quintessential English farm.

With his combined skills of farmer and historian, Lewis-Stempel digs deep into written records, the memories of relatives, and the landscape itself to celebrate the farmland his family have been bound to for millennia. Through Woodston's life, we feel the joyful arrival of oxen ploughing; we see pigs rootling in the medieval apple orchard; and take in the sharp, drowsy fragrance of hops on Edwardian air. He draws upon his wealth of historical knowledge and his innate sense of place to create a passionate, fascinating biography of farming in England.

Woodston not only reminds us of the rural riches buried beneath our feet but of our shared roots that tie us to the land.

By: John Lewis-Stempel
Imprint: Doubleday
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 573g
ISBN: 9780857525796
ISBN 10: 0857525794
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 08 July 2021
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print

John Lewis-Stempel is a writer and farmer. His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Running Hare and The Wood. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. In 2016 he was Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He lives in Herefordshire with his wife and two children.

Reviews for Woodston: The Biography of An English Farm – The Sunday Times Bestseller

Lewis-Stempel's greatest gift remains his prose, with all its vividness and energy. His aim in Woodston was to 'fashion a memorial in print' to his grandparents and 'all the yeomen farmers of England, past, present and future'. The English countryside is 'a work of human art, done by the many and the nameless' and he wanted to celebrate it. He has succeeded admirably * Daily Mail * Lewis-Stempel is one of our finest nature writers ... He writes with delicate observation and authority, giving us in Woodston a book teeming with fascinating details, anecdotes and penetrating insights into the real cost of our denatured countryside. -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times * From a master of storytelling... Other writers have written about the history of agriculture ... but this writer is the master, because his book is not just a scholarly treatise. It is about the history of agriculture, yes, but it is a personal account, written with a great love of the subject. It is the 'biography' of a farm and the English landscape, written through the eyes of a man who is a true wordsmith, knowledgeable on his subject and lover of the natural world. It is these enthusiasms which make it so readable ... [Lewis-Stempel is] a writer who is without equal in his field. -- David Hill * Western Morning News *