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In this graceful introduction to the author’s life and works, Fiona Stafford offers a fresh and accessible perspective, discussing Austen’s six astonishing novels in the context of their time. Newly updated, Jane Austen: A Brief Life offers a rich and sympathetic insight into a writer who was just as much the Romantic genius as Keats, Shelley or Byron—full of youthful exuberance, intensely creative once she had found her individual voice, and dead before she reached middle age.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49506585608465,"sku":"GOR008710221","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49729286111505,"sku":"NGR9780300232219","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52392151810321,"sku":"CIN0300232217G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53498989609233,"sku":"GOR010393202","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0300232217.jpg?v=1751133911"},{"product_id":"long-long-life-of-trees-book-fiona-stafford-9780300207330","title":"The Long, Long Life of Trees","description":"A lyrical tribute to the diversity of trees, their physical beauty, their special characteristics and uses, and their ever-evolving meanings","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49516431376657,"sku":"GOR007678002","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49597203382545,"sku":"GOR008073035","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49650962399505,"sku":"GOR009027777","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50096387916049,"sku":"CIN0300207336G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50348010012945,"sku":"CIN0300207336A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51716573200657,"sku":"CIN0300207336VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53353097920785,"sku":"GOR010070497","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0300207336.jpg?v=1751133887"},{"product_id":"brief-life-of-flowers-book-fiona-stafford-9781473686359","title":"The Brief Life of Flowers","description":"'A glowing account of the myths and meanings we impose on flowers . . . a book to reread and treasure' John Carey, Sunday Times  'A captivating new book that explores our fascination with flowers . . . A delight' Daily Mail  Come rain or shine, flowers feature perennially in the landscape of human history. Their beauty has inspired some of the greatest works of art and literature, captivating creative minds from Ovid to O'Keeffe, Wordsworth to Van Gogh, Botticelli to Beatrix Potter.   But flowers have also played a key part in forming the past, and may even shape our future. Some have served as symbols of monarchs, dynasties and nations - from the Wars of the Roses to the Order of the Thistle. And while the poppy is often associated with WWI, it was the elderflower that treated its wounded soldiers, joining a long line of healing flowers that have developed modern medicine, including lavender and foxgloves.   From the personal to the political, flowers play a part in all aspects of life: the right rose, according to the Victorian language of flowers, might mend a broken heart, while sunflowers may just save our planet.   This beautifully written collection is at once enchanting and intriguing, weaving together art, science, history and horticulture to offer a fresh perspective on the world around us. The Brief Life of Flowers reveals how even the most ordinary of flowers have extraordinary stories to tell.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49543520059665,"sku":"GOR009456805","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50215685325073,"sku":"CIN1473686350G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50267754987793,"sku":"GOR009487988","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50297115607313,"sku":"GOR009838719","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1473686350.jpg?v=1751443579"},{"product_id":"brief-life-of-flowers-book-fiona-stafford-9781473686373","title":"The Brief Life of Flowers","description":"The beauty of flowers is well known, inspiring creative minds from Botticelli to Beatrix Potter. 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A monkey puzzle tree bristles in a suburban garden. A skein of wild geese fly over a rusty rail viaduct. The vast inland sea that awed John Clare has become fields.  Chapter by fascinating chapter, alive with literary, local, and her own family history, Fiona Stafford reveals the forces, both natural and human, which transform places. Swooping along coastlines, through forests and across fens, following in the footsteps of Burns and Keats, Celia Fiennes and Charles Dickens, William and Dorothy Wordsworth,  Noel Coward and Compton Mackenzie,  join her, time-travelling deep into the stories of our Isles.  From red squirrels to brick vistas, from botanical gardens to hot springs, the landscapes of Britain are full of delights and surprises. Chance discoveries of rare species, shipwrecks and unlikely ruins, curious trees and startling towers,  weird caves and disused airfields, or even just baffling placenames offer ways into unexpected histories and hidden lives. The clues to the past are all round us - Time and Tide will help you find them.  'Shot through with tender delights and unexpected revelations' RICHARD HOLMES  'Wonderful . . . 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Trees are so entwined with human experience that diverse species have inspired their own stories, myths, songs, poems, paintings, and spiritual meanings. Some have achieved status as religious, cultural, or national symbols.     In this beautifully illustrated volume Fiona Stafford offers intimate, detailed explorations of seventeen common trees, from ash and apple to pine, oak, cypress, and willow. The author also pays homage to particular trees, such as the fabled Ankerwyke Yew, under which Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn, and the spectacular cherry trees of Washington, D.C. Stafford discusses practical uses of wood past and present, tree diseases and environmental threats, and trees’ potential contributions toward slowing global climate change. Brimming with unusual topics and intriguing facts, this book celebrates trees and their long, long lives as our inspiring and beloved natural companions.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49633776828689,"sku":"GOR008334108","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49729439596817,"sku":"NGR9780300228205","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49855903072529,"sku":"GOR008964204","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50127191900433,"sku":"CIN0300228201G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50262381658385,"sku":"GOR008996707","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50454884450577,"sku":"GOR009916983","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53241071632657,"sku":"CIN0300228201VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0300228201.jpg?v=1750941363"},{"product_id":"brief-lives-jane-austen-book-fiona-stafford-9781843919063","title":"Brief Lives: Jane Austen","description":"In this biography, leading scholar Fiona Stafford offers a fresh perspective on Austen's life and work, discussing such classics as 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Emma' in the context of the world in which they were published.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49861606244625,"sku":"GOR005674596","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843919060.jpg?v=1750995639"},{"product_id":"stories-of-trees-woods-and-the-forest-book-fiona-stafford-9780593320181","title":"Stories of Trees, Woods, and the Forest","description":"\u003cb\u003eA beautiful hardcover anthology of stories by a brilliant and surprising mix of classic and contemporary writers who have been inspired by trees and forests.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Trees have starred in stories ever since Ovid described the nymph Daphne's metamorphosis into a laurel, and the landscape of literature has long been enlivened by wild woodlands, sacred groves, and fertile orchards. This delightful collection ranges from Ovid to Austen and from Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest (via Thomas Love Peacock's \u003ci\u003eMaid Marian\u003c\/i\u003e) to Washington Irving's \"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,\" and more stories from Eudora Welty, Tove Jansson, and D.H. Lawrence.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Here are forest-haunted fairy tales both classic (the Brothers Grimm) and inventively retold (Angela Carter). There is room in these woods for comedy as well as terror, in Stella Gibbons's \u003ci\u003eCold Comfort Farm\u003c\/i\u003e, and Alexander McCall Smith's \"Head Tree.\" Notable writers from around the world contribute arboreal fiction--from South Africa, Finland, France, Zimbabwe, Russia, Martinique, and India, as well as Britain, Ireland, Canada, and America. From Daphne du Maurier's \"The Apple Tree\" to R. K. 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Textual encounters singled out for detailed discussion include Burns's use of Shakespeare, Coleridge's reference to 'Sir Patrick Spens', James Clarence Mangan's adaptation of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ciaran Carson's quotation from John Keats, Seamus Heaney's meditation on Henry Vaughan, and the evolution of 'The Homes of England' from Felicia Hemans to Noel Coward.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51263016403217,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51263018270993,"sku":"NIN9780198186373","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52341752103185,"sku":"NLS9780198186373","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0198186371.jpg?v=1750812677"},{"product_id":"local-attachments-book-fiona-stafford-9780199558162","title":"Local Attachments","description":"How can poems so firmly attached to particular regions speak to readers far away, who might have no knowledge of the places featuring in the work? Why do writers turn to their own communities for materials? In this thought-provoking and beautifully written book, Fiona Stafford explores the relationship between the local, the national, and the global through the consideration of works by writers whose feeling for place is especially evident. Heaney, Burns, Wordsworth, Scott, Lamb, and Dickens are key figures in the development of a new kind of literature that discovered universal meaning in local truth.   Local Attachments begins with Seamus Heaney's Nobel Lecture, 'Crediting Poetry', which is at once a celebration of local work in a global context and a passionate defence of the place of lyric poetry in modern society. The focus then shifts to the Romantic period, when local detail ceased to be regarded as a sign of limitation and the idea that it is essential to art with any aspiration to permanence became established in British and Irish culture. Stafford explores both the presence of the local in literary texts by a wide range of writers and the cultural, philosophical and political contexts that might have contributed to this phenomenon. Wordsworth's creative recovery in the Lake District is an exemplary case, illuminating both Heaney's work and that of his immediate contemporaries and heirs. Since Wordsworth is a foundational figure, the book traces his efforts to achieve a poetry adequate to very difficult contemporary circumstances by returning to his native hills to create work that might live. His own project drew vital inspiration from the poetry of Burns and also found corroboration in the work Scott, so the book examines their independent explorations of the creative benefits - and problems attending - local attachment. It also considers the meaning of Burns and Wordsworth's local poems for those in very different circumstances - London writers such as Keats, Lamb and Dickens, whose works are considered in some detail in their own right and as representative of the implications of the great Romantic discovery of the local. The book concludes by addressing the continuing appeal of the local in modern, urban society and reaffirms the vital importance of poetry as a response to social crises.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51549517676817,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51549517971729,"sku":"GOR011576554","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52089056067857,"sku":"NLS9780199558162","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0199558167.jpg?v=1776938253"},{"product_id":"time-and-tide-book-fiona-stafford-9781473686342","title":"Time and Tide","description":"'Poetic and profound, Time and Tide is wise, considered and full of surprises' Observer  'Poignant and touching' Mail on Sunday  'Miraculous' Scotsman  A village waits at the bottom of a reservoir. 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