The Running Hare
The Secret Life of Farmland
$27.80
- Paperback
304 pages
- Release Date
15 April 2017
Summary
The critically acclaimed celebration of English wildlife and the bestselling natural history title of 2016, SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2017.
‘BRITAIN’S FINEST LIVING NATURE WRITER’ - THE TIMES
The Sunday Times Bestseller - SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2017
Traditional ploughland is disappearing. Seven cornfield flowers have become extinct in the last twenty years. Once abundant, the corn bunting and the lapwing are on the Red List. The corncrake is al…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781784160746 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1784160741 |
| Author: | John Lewis-Stempel |
| Publisher: | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Imprint: | Black Swan |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 304 |
| Release Date: | 15 April 2017 |
| Weight: | 250g |
| Dimensions: | 198mm x 129mm x 22mm |
You Can Find This Book In
What They're Saying
Critics Review
He describes beautifully the changing of the seasons and the habits of animals such as the hares that make their home in his field. The book is a superb piece of nature writing.
He describes beautifully the changing of the seasons and the habits of animals such as the hares that make their home in his field. The book is a superb piece of nature writing. – Ian Critchley * Sunday Times *
That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed. * Country Life *
Englightening and stylish…Readers who enjoyed the author’s last book, Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field, will find much in the same vein here: a mix of agricultural history, rural lore, topographical description and childhood memories. I learned a good deal…. Lewis-Stempel is a fine stylist, adroitly conjuring scenes in which “medieval mist hangs in the trees” or “frost clenches the ground”… – Sara Wheeler * Observer *
A beautifully written paean to the countryside in all its rich diversity. – PD Smith * Guardian *
A beautifully observed book, full of poetic descriptions. Brilliant and galvanising. * Sunday Express *
Lewis-Stempel is a fourth-generation farmer gifted with an extraordinary ability to write prose that soars and sings, like a skylark over unspoiled fields. This wonderful book (a worthy follow-up to his brilliant Meadowland) is a hymn in praise of enlightened farming methods which reject lethal chemicals and allow insects, birds and flowers to thrive, as once they did.
As an experiment Lewis-Stempel rents an ordinary arable field (his own property is a hill farm) to plough and manage in the old-fashioned way, transforming it into a traditional wheatfield to attract wildlife. Even — he hopes — hares. The work is back-breaking but the rewards are sublime. Like the hares, Lewis-Stempel’s words dance.
Fans of Lewis-Stempel’s bestselling Meadowland will find here the same easy-reading prose fuelled by daft-as-a-brush enthusiasm and embellished with lyrical flourishes … the mud-spattered details of a farming life lend The Running Hare a unique realness. * Mail on Sunday *
A beautiful love letter … to a wheat field [and] a pleasurable read * BBC Countryfile *
A stirring rural fantasia…Lewis-Stempel’s heart and mind are absolutely in the right place. I salute him and I adored his appreciation of the quirky detail. * The Times *
A stirring rural fantasia…Lewis-Stempel’s heart and mind are absolutely in the right place. I salute him and I adored his appreciation of the quirky detail. * The Times *
About The Author
John Lewis-Stempel
John Lewis-Stempel is a farmer and ‘Britain’s finest living nature writer’ (The Times). His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers Woodston, 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 named Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He farms cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Traditionally.
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.