All the charm, wonder, eccentricity and vigour of country life is here in these pages, and told with such engaging directness, detail and colour . . . Bliss STEPHEN FRYA capacious work that contains multitudes . . . a work to amble through, seasonally, relishing the vivid dashes of colour and the precision and delicacy of the descriptions THE SPECTATORMy favourite read of the year . . . warm, funny and moving SUNDAY TIMESA writer whose pages you turn and then turn back immediately to reread, relish and get by heart SUSAN HILL, SUNDAY TELEGRAPHRonald Blythe lived at the end of an overgrown farm track deep in the rolling countryside of the Stour Valley, on the border between Suffolk and Essex. His home was Bottengoms Farm, a sturdy yeomans house once owned by the artist John Nash. From here, Blythe spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries.Beginning with the arrival of snow on New Years Day and ending with Christmas carols sung in the village church, Next to Nature invites us to witness a simple life richly lived. With gentle wit and keen observation Blythe meditates on his life and faith, on literature, art and history, and on our place in the landscape.It is a celebration of one of our greatest nature writers, and an unforgettable ode to the English countryside.

Binding: Paperback;380 pages; Publisher: Hachette UK Distribution; Classification: BM; Weight: 504 g; Dimensions: 129 x 197 x 33

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