A British Flora by Geoffrey Grigson

A British Flora by Geoffrey Grigson

Now with a new foreword by John Lewis-Stempel, ‘Britain’s greatest living nature writer’

A stunning illustrated edition of a classic in natural history, the ultimate reference book of British flowers and plants from poet and botanist Geoffrey Grigson.

'Almost every book I have written in the last eighteen years has been informed by A British Flora.' John Lewis-Stempel, bestselling author of England: A Natural History

First published in 1955 as The Englishman’s Flora, Geoffrey Grigson’s lost classic has now been updated in this stunning new edition. An illustrated guide to Britain’s flora, it is a must-have treasure trove for every walker, forager and lover of our countryside.

Listing flowers and trees of the field, hedgerow and heathland, both rare and familiar, with their Latin, common and regional names, it includes their magical, mythical, medicinal and culinary properties, and their role in shaping the culture, religion and history of these isles.

While ten wildflowers have been ‘lost’ and much of our flora depleted since it was first published, it illustrates all that the British countryside should be and can still be.

Beautifully written and scattered with sixteenth-century woodcuts, rhymes, proverbs and potions, A British Flora is the ultimate rural companion, essential reference and perfect gift.

'One of the loveliest but also most useful illustrated gift books of the season.' The Bookseller

‘There can be nothing but praise for this attractive, erudite volume … a richly packed, loving book’ Times Literary Supplement

Geoffrey Grigson (Author)
Geoffrey Grigson (1905-1985) was one of the most prolific and wide-ranging authors of the twentieth century. He wrote numerous books and articles on painting, literature, travel, places, archaeology, gardens, wild flowers and the English countryside, as well as compiling many anthologies and publishing an autobiography and thirteen volumes of his own verse. After working as a journalist in London in the 1930s, when he founded and edited the influential poetry magazine New Verse, he became well-known as a broadcaster, before settling down in a Wiltshire farmhouse in 1945 to earn his living as a freelance writer, critic and reviewer.

John Lewis-Stempel (Foreword By)
John Lewis-Stempel is a farmer and 'Britain's finest living nature writer' (The Times). His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers Woodston, The Running Hare and The Wood, and most recently he published England: A Natural History. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. In 2016 he was named Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He farms cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Traditionally.