Where Poppies Blow: The British Soldier, Nature, the Great War - Softcover

Lewis-Stempel, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780224915 ISBN 13: 9781780224916

Publisher: W&N, 2017

Synopsis

Winner of the 2017 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize for nature writing

The natural history of the Western Front during the First World War

'If it weren't for the birds, what a hell it would be.'

During the Great War, soldiers lived inside the ground, closer to nature than many humans had lived for centuries. Animals provided comfort and interest to fill the blank hours in the trenches - bird-watching, for instance, was probably the single most popular hobby among officers. Soldiers went fishing in flooded shell holes, shot hares in no-man's land for the pot, and planted gardens in their trenches and billets. Nature was also sometimes a curse - rats, spiders and lice abounded, and disease could be biblical.

But above all, nature healed, and, despite the bullets and blood, it inspired men to endure. Where Poppies Blow is the unique story of how nature gave the British soldiers of the Great War a reason to fight, and the will to go on.

About this title

Review

'What makes Where Poppies Blow so freshly moving is the picture it paints of the reverence, love and kindness the natural world can engender, even in the most hellish conditions; as Philip Gosse of the Royal Army Medical Corps called it, "medicine for the mind and solace for the soul"' (Melissa Harrison Financial Times)

'In Where Poppies Blow, the nature writer, historian and farmer presents us with a beautiful and meticulous account of soldiers' relationship with nature . . . This book, which recounts the lives of our frontline soldiers from the ground up, is a truly wondrous and original work with an appeal far beyond military history' (Charlotte Heathcote Daily Express Christmas Books)

'Wonderful, beautifully written and often deeply moving' (Lawrence James The Times)

'Makes an important contribution to the literature by studying the British soldiers' relationship with Nature . . . Moving, strangely life-affirming' (Clive Aslet Country Life)

'Manages what might have seemed impossible: to find a new perspective on the Great War' (Mark Smith Glasgow Herald)

'From traumatized, trench-bound British soldiers caught up in the carnage of the First World War, birdwatching and botany offered solace. So reveals John Lewis-Stempel in this riveting study drawing on verse, letters and field notes by men who served, from zoologist Dene Fry to poet Edward Thomas . . . A remarkable picture of a human bloodbath that took place amid phenomenally rich biodiversity' (Nature)

'Deeply moving . . . I finished this book marvelling at nature's healing power' (Jonathan Tulloch The Tablet)

'But natural history did not go into suspense while war was waged. Where Poppies Blow notes that many of the Edwardian boys who ended up on the Western Front still collected birds' eggs and butterflies' (Simon Heffer Daily Telegraph)

'Memorable' (Spectator)

'One of the best nature writers to have come along in many years, John Lewis-Stempel turns his attention here to the relationship between soldiers and nature on the Western Front during the First World War' (John Preston Daily Mail Christmas Books)

Book Description

The natural history of the Western Front during the First World War by the award-winning author of Meadowland.

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1780224915
• ISBN 13: 9781780224916
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400