English Pastoral: An Inheritance - The Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Shepherd's Life

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I’m maybe old and stupid, but I like to see them things. But you don’t see them anymore. And greed is to blame. Greed. And it will get worse if they don’t change things.

One of the most important books of our time. Told with humility and grace, this story of farming over three generations - where we went wrong and how we can change our ways - will be our land's salvation. -- Isabella Tree Our land is like a poem, in a patchwork landscape of other poems, written by hundreds of people, both those here now and the many hundreds that came before us, with each generation adding new layers of meaning and experience. And the poem, if you can read it, tells a complex truth. It has both moments of great beauty and of heartbreak. It tells of human triumph and failings, of what is good in people and what is flawed; and what we need, and how in our greed we can destroy precious things. It tells of what stays the same, and what changes; and of honest hard-working folk, clinging on over countless generations, to avoid being swept away by the giant waves of a storm as the world changes. It is also the story of those who lost their grip and were swept away from the land, but who still care, and are now trying to find their way home.This was a great follow-up to other books I’ve been reading recently about environmentalism and long-term thinking, such as Losing Eden (which, similarly, took inspiration from Silent Spring) and The Good Ancestor, and should attract readers of Wilding by Isabella Tree. I hope it will go far in next year’s Wainwright Prize race. Rebanks certainly has an axe to grind, but English Pastoral is written in such a way that his book never loses its ability to engage with his audience, and encourage compulsive, emotionally invested reading. He draws his family well, with all their nuances and foibles, and his descriptions of nature are a vibrant inducement to care. He writes beautifully. English Pastoral’ is a beautiful portrayal of an English farming family, this is incredibly enjoyable as well as being insightful. I absolutely loved this.

Rebanks also recalls trips to Australia and the American Midwest, where he realized the true costs of intensive, monoculture farming, as opposed to the small-scale, mixed rotational farming that is traditional in the UK. Rather than wallowing in nostalgia or guilt, neither of which does anyone much good, he chronicles how he has taken steps to restore his laWe urgently need to find ways to increase productivity without adversely affecting the environment. And, as Rebanks says, we need mechanisms, including financial incentives, that encourage productive farms to be more friendly to nature. English Pastoral concludes with a description of the changes made on Rebanks’s farm in recent years. He and his wife, Helen, a quiet pillar of strength, have planted over twelve thousand saplings and created new hedgerows. The river running through the farm has been returned to a more natural state. Native cattle have helped improve the health of his pastures. Wild flowers are flourishing and the farm is alive with birdsong. The closing part of English Pastoral brings the two earlier sections together and binds them together skilfully as Rebanks takes over his grandad’s farm and moves towards a regenerative farming model – one where nature and agriculture co-exist successfully. Rebanks reflects on his own journey, showing the hardships and the wonders that spring from owning a farm. More importantly, he reveals how his methods could lead to stronger communities, healthier food and improved ecosystems – a practical reworking of our relationship with the land. It’s not only the story of one farming family, but also a clear and well-argued proposal for a new attitude towards an essential resource, which has been cheapened and exploited, with ultimately harmful environmental consequences.