NATURE WRITING
Landmarks
Robert McFarlane
From the bestselling author of UNDERLAND, THE OLD WAYS and THE LOST WORDS
'Few books give such a sense of enchantment; it is a book to give to many, and to return to repeatedly' Independent
'Enormously pleasurable, deeply moving. A bid to save our rich hoard of landscape language, and a blow struck for the power of a deep creative relationship to place' Financial Times
'A book that ought to be read by policymakers, educators, armchair environmentalists and active conservationists the world over' Guardian
'Gorgeous, thoughtful and lyrical' Independent on Sunday
Walden
Henry David Thoreau is considered one of the leading figures in early American literature, and Walden is without doubt his most influential book. It recounts the author's experiences living in a small house in the woods around Walden Pond near Concord in Massachusetts. Thoreau constructed the house himself, with the help of a few friends, to see if he could live 'deliberately' - independently and apart from society. The result is an intriguing work which blends natural history with philosophical insights, and includes many illuminating quotations from other authors. Thoreau's wooden shack has won a place for itself in the collective American psyche, a remarkable achievement for a book with such modest and rustic beginnings.
A Sand County Almanac
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold’s pen had always been productive and provocative. Beginning with the letters he wrote home in his youth, Leopold used writing to explore and express his relationship with nature. His correspondence was his reprieve from school work, his literary training ground, his naturalist notebook, and his connection to family. Most importantly, it was the practice by which he detailed and reflected upon his experiences. Leopold’s strength as a writer grew and evolved over his lifetime. By 1937, Leopold already had a strong reputation as one of the conservation movement’s most committed and effective writers.
My First Summer in Sierra
John Muir
In the summer of 1869, John Muir, a young Scottish immigrant, joined a crew of shepherds in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The diary he kept while tending sheep formed the heart of this book and eventually lured thousands of Americans to visit Yosemite country. First published in 1911, My First Summer in the Sierra incorporates the lyrical accounts and sketches he produced during his four-month stay in the Yosemite River Valley and the High Sierra.