Voices of Akenfield (Penguin English Journeys) - Softcover

Blythe, Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141190795 ISBN 13: 9780141190792

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2009

Synopsis

Born and brought up in rural Suffolk, Ronald Blythe was fascinated by the rhythms of country life and the stories of the people he had known since childhood. In this perceptive and moving evocation of his home, the villagers speak candidly about their lives, from the reminiscences of survivors of the First World War to a younger generation of farm workers, as well as the personal recollections of a school teacher, blacksmith, saddler, bellringer and district nurse. Together they give us the voice of a village, and of a vanished rural England.

Generations of inhabitants have helped shape the English countryside - but it has profoundly shaped us too.It has provoked a huge variety of responses from artists, writers, musicians and people who live and work on the land - as well as those who are travelling through it.English Journeys celebrates this long tradition with a series of twenty books on all aspects of the countryside, from stargazey pie and country churches, to man's relationship with nature and songs celebrating the patterns of the countryside (as well as ghosts and love-struck soldiers).

About this title

Review:

'A unique and affectionate picture of English village life' Observer 'The best portrait of modern rural life in England, subtle and compassionate' Roger Deakin, author of Waterlogged and Wildwood 'Exquisite' John Updike

From the Back Cover:

ENGLISH JOURNEYS
Number 1

Born and brought up in rural Suffolk, Ronald Blythe was fascinated by the rhythms of country life and the stories of the people he had known since childhood. In this perceptive and moving evocation of his home, the villagers speak candidly about their lives, from the reminiscences of survivors of the First World War to a younger generation of farm workers, as well as the personal recollections of a school teacher, blacksmith, saddler, bellringer and district nurse. Together they give us the voice of a village, and of a vanished rural England.

Ronald Blythe (born 1922) is a writer and editor, most famous for his bestselling Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village, which became an instant classic on its publication in 1969, and from which this book is extracted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0141190795
• ISBN 13: 9780141190792
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 144