The Collins Nature Library is a new series of classic British nature writing - reissues of long-lost seminal works. The titles have been chosen by one of Britain's best known and highly acclaimed nature writers, Robert Macfarlane, who has also written new introductions that put these classics into a modern context. Nature Near London is a collection of observational pieces from locations near London at the end of the 19th Century. The depth of knowledge and of familiarity with particular places and particular species gives the impression that each small piece is the product of many years of observation. His style of observation is a work in miniature - cataloguing the most minute details; the dancing of a flower in the wind or the darting of a cautious trout. The chapters centre on a special place, a certain species, geographical feature or habitat - everything from orchards and copses to rivers and streams. Jefferies always explains the typical behaviour of whatever he is describing, and often contrasts what he sees with what one would expect to see in another part of the country, or in a different season. His knowledge of flowers is wide-ranging, and his ability to describe one particular patch of a field in such a specific way brings tremendous variety to the chapters that make up the book. The final chapters are a departure - both from the character of the rest of the book, and from London itself, as Jefferies boards the train to Brighton. Suddenly he is describing people and their relationship to nature, as much as nature itself. The scope widens, less a work in miniature, more surging towards a triumphant end as Jefferies becomes ever more philosophical. 100 years on, the book becomes even more relevant than when it was published - as a reminder of the dangers of unrelenting urbanisation, but also the context of the trend that aims to recreate nature where we need it most - around our cities. Nature near London is a portrait of what we've lost, and a reminder of nature's positive and calming influence. Going along with Jefferies is like taking an afternoon stroll out of the city, without having to leave your armchair.

Nature Near London (Collins Nature Library)

Richard, Jefferies

Collins

Richard Jefferies (1848-1847) remains one of the most thoughtful and most lyrical writers on the English countryside. In Wild Life in a Southern County, originally published in 1879, Jefferies describes the countryside of the Downs, the natural habitats, wildlife and people in his highly descriptive and lyrical style.

Wild Life in a Southern County

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Moonraker Press

The Story of My Heart: My Autobiography (Classic Reprint)

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Forgotten Books

<p>Amaryllis at the Fair (first published in 1887) portrays the highs and lows of everyday life on a small, debt-ridden family farm. At Coombe Oaks, Farmer Iden is out in all weathers, planting and sowing; his wife is in the dairy or staving off creditors; and their sensitive, artistic daughter, Amaryllis, is watching it all and praying for salvation. With a host of expertly-drawn minor characters, including miserly Grandfather Iden, loyal George the labourer and dissolute landowner's son Raleigh Pamment, Jefferies gives a rounded picture of a rural community - and in the noble Iden paints a fond portrait of his own farmer father...</p>

Amaryllis at the Fair: A Novel

Charles River Books

Amaryllis at the Fair (Alan Sutton Pocket Classics Series)

Literature & Fiction

Classics

Sutton Pub Ltd

It is usually supposed to be necessary to go far into the country to find wild birds and animals in sufficient numbers to be pleasantly studied. Such was certainly my own impression till circumstances led me for the convenience of access to London to reside for awhile about twelve miles from town.

Nature Near London: A Classic Work of Essays on the Countryside and Natural History in the London Area a Century Ago

Nature & Ecology

Jonn Clare Books

The Farmer's World: Richard Jefferies' Agricultural Journalism in the Late 1870s

Petton Books

Thoughts from the writings of Richard Jefferies

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

History

BiblioLife

<p>As outspoken in his day as Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens are today, American freethinker and author ROBERT GREEN INGERSOLL (1833-1899) was a notorious radical whose uncompromising views on religion and slavery (they were bad, in his opinion), women's suffrage (a good idea, he believed), and other contentious matters of his era made him a wildly popular orator and critic of 19th-century American culture and public life. As a speaker dedicated to expanding intellectual horizons and celebrating the value of skepticism, Ingersoll spoke frequently on such topics as atheism, freedom from the pressures of conformity, and the lives of philosophers who espoused such concepts. This collection of his most famous speeches includes the lectures: [ "The Gods" (1872) [ "Humboldt" (1869) [ "Thomas Paine" (1870) [ "Individuality" (1873) [ "Heretics and Heresies" (1874)</p>

The Toilers of the Field

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Books by Richard, Jefferies