| Author | John Lewis-Stempel |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | World War I, Nature |
| Publisher | Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
Publication date | 14 September 2017 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 400 |
Where Poppies Blow: The British Soldier, Nature, The Great War is a non-fiction book by British author John Lewis-Stempel, focusing on the relationship between British soldiers and nature during World War I. The book explores how nature provided solace, distraction, and a sense of normalcy amidst the horrors of war.
 |
John Lewis-Stempel, is a farmer, nature writer, and historian, and combines his knowledge of the British military and the first world war with a passion for nature. He is a two-time winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, known for works like Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field and The Running Hare. In Where Poppies Blow, Lewis-Stempel provides a deeply moving account of the soldiers' experiences with nature on the Western Front.
The book examines the profound connection between soldiers of the Great War and nature. It details how soldiers found comfort in bird-watching, gardening, and interacting with animals. Lewis-Stempel recounts the experiences of soldiers like Private Norman Edwards, who found beauty in the natural world despite the war's grim realities. The narrative also addresses the harsher aspects of nature in wartime.
Where Poppies Blow received critical acclaim for its unique perspective and emotional depth. The Financial Times described it as a "painstakingly researched and deeply moving account," highlighting Lewis-Stempel's skill in blending history with nature writing. [1] The Guardian praised the book for its insightful portrayal of soldiers' relationship with nature. [2] The Times review was positive, emphasizing the book's contribution to the high standard of nature writing in the UK. [3] The Last Word Book Review also gave an affirmative critique, noting Lewis-Stempel's ability to vividly bring to life the flora and fauna of the war. [4]
Robert William Fisk was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians.
"In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially dissatisfied with his work, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published on December 8 of that year in the London magazine Punch. Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in Belgium and France.
Cecil Day-Lewis, often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake, most of which feature the fictional detective Nigel Strangeways.
Patricia Mary W. Barker, is a British writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and plainspoken. In 2012, The Observer named the Regeneration Trilogy as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
Robert Macfarlane is a British writer and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Ronald George Blythe was a British writer, essayist and editor, best known for his work Akenfield (1969), an account of agricultural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s. He wrote a long-running and considerably praised weekly column in the Church Times entitled "Word from Wormingford".
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World is a 2008 book by then-Harvard professor Niall Ferguson, and an adapted television documentary for Channel 4 (UK) and PBS (US), which in 2009 won an International Emmy Award. It examines the long history of money, credit, and banking.
John Ronald Skirth was a British soldier who served in the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War.
John Lewis-Stempel is an English farmer, writer, and Sunday Times Top 5 best selling author.
The Reluctant Tommy is a book compiled by Duncan Barrett from the memoirs of Ronald Skirth, a member of the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War. His experiences during the Battle of Messines, the Battle of Passchendaele and the Second Battle of the Piave River, which Skirth calls the Battle of the Asiago Plateau, were detailed in this book. The book captured attention due to Skirth's actions during the war to avoid enemy casualties. The manuscript was known only by the family for decades before finally being published in 2010. The book received favourable reviews on publication, but was also criticised for significant historical inaccuracies.
Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, written by the Scottish historian William Dalrymple and published in 2013, is an account of the First Anglo-Afghan War from 1839 to 1842.
Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency is a 2017 book by Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Joshua Green about the partnership between Donald Trump and Steve Bannon that led to their 2016 political victory and the putative rise of the alt-right. Prior to writing the book, Green had worked as a journalist for The Atlantic and Bloomberg, where he garnered experience reporting on conservatives. He had previously written a profile on Bannon in 2015, and interviewed Bannon for the book.
Alexander Larman is a British author, journalist, historian, and literary editor of The Spectator World. A writer of multiple historical biographies, including those of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Lord Byron and Edward VIII, he is also a regular contributor to The Times, The Observer, The Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, the New Statesman, and The Daily Telegraph.
Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth is a 2003 biography by John Garth of the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien's early life, focusing on his formative military experiences during the First World War.
J. R. R. Tolkien took part in the First World War, known then as the Great War, and began his fantasy Middle-earth writings at that time. The Fall of Gondolin was the first prose work that he created, and it contains detailed descriptions of battle and streetfighting. He continued the dark tone in much of his legendarium, as seen in The Silmarillion. The Lord of the Rings, too, has been described as a war book.
Last Man Standing is a song cycle for baritone and orchestra written in 2018 by the British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad and set to a text by Tamsin Collison. The work was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and was first performed by the baritone Marcus Farnsworth and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins at the Barbican Centre on 30 November 2018.
Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field is a non-fiction book by British author John Lewis-Stempel, focusing on the natural history of an English field throughout a year. The book provides a detailed account of the flora and fauna of the English countryside and is notable for its deep observation and reflection on nature.
The Wood: The Life and Times of Cockshutt Wood is a non-fiction book by British author John Lewis-Stempel. Written in a diary format, it chronicles Lewis-Stempel's experiences managing Cockshutt Wood, a mixed woodland in Herefordshire. The book, which covers the final year of his stewardship, reflects on the importance of such woodlands in the British countryside and their rich biodiversity.
The Wild Life: A Year of Living on Wild Food is a non-fiction book by British author John Lewis-Stempel. It documents his experiment of spending a full year eating only food that he could hunt, gather, or forage from his forty-acre farm.
Sweet Sorrow is a 2019 coming-of-age novel by British writer David Nicholls. It is written in the perspective of 16-year-old Charlie Lewis, a teenage boy grappling with his parents' divorce who finds love and direction through a summer theatre production.