It really shouldn’t surprise me whatsoever that not more than a day after I had enjoyed listening to a delightful and very informative In Our Time podcast discussion of the life and works of John Clare that I would find that Mark Avery had chosen a new book about the history of the Fens, including the struggles against enclosure there (for those who might be unfamiliar, Mr. Clare was very much against enclosure) as the subject for his Sunday Book Review.
“This book goes straight into my shortlist of books of the year for 2020: no doubt about it” proclaims Mark in the very first sentence of his review of James Boyce’s Imperial Mud; the Fight for the Fens. And quite honestly, with his “[i]t’s a book about a place, its history, the politics behind its fate and the impact on people, habitats and wildlife” that concluded his second paragraph, Mark had me adding the book to my “to read” list then and there. However don’t just take my word for it – take Mark’s by reading his entire review for yourself.
Links to Mark Avery’s Sunday book reviews appear in The Well-read Naturalist by special arrangement. You can find all of Mark’s past reviews as well as a wide-ranging collection of his other writings on his Standing Up for Nature website. Mark’s opinions regarding the books he reviews are his own.
