Book description
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANE
During the Second World War, John Stewart Collis volunteered to
leave his comfortable life as an academic to work on the land for the
war effort. His account of this time perfectly captures the
soft-handed, city-dweller's naivety and wonder both at the workings of
nature and the toughness of life on a farm. It's set in the south of
England and comprises exquisitely written sections on whatever happens
to take Collis's fancy and inspire his thoughtful curiosity, ranging
from humorous sketches of the characters he works alongside;
mini-essays such as 'Contemplation upon Ants', The Mystery of Clouds',
'Colloquy on the Rick', 'Meditation while Singling Mangolds', 'The
Garden of Eden'; and celebrations of the earthworm, pea and potato.
His mind ranges far and wide through literature science and philosophy
as well as amazing descriptive writing, which makes for a book that is
as uncategorisable as it is enchanting.
John Stewart Collis was born in 1900. His father was a Dublin
solicitor and Collis was educated at Rugby School and Balliol College,
Oxford. In 1925 he published a biography of George Bernard Shaw and he
later went on to write other biographical works and also became a
pioneer of the ecological movement in Britain. During the Second World
War his wife and daughters were evacuated to the United States and he
worked for the Land Army as an agricultural labourer - accompanied by
his beloved dog, Bindo. His memoirs and meditations on rural life,
While Following the Plough
(1946) and
Down to Earth
(1947) were first published together as
The Worm Forgives the Plough
in 1973, which has become a classic of nature writing.
