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.
