Reissue of J. A. Baker,s extraordinary classic of
British nature writing Despite the association of
peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British
Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the
Essex coast, where J A Baker spent a long winter looking
and writing about the visitors from the uplands -
peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks
of pigeons and waders that share the desolate landscape
with them. Including original diaries from which The
Peregrine was written and its companion volume The Hill
of Summer, this is a beautiful compendium of lyrical
nature writing at its absolute best. Such luminaries as
Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Ted Hughes and Andrew
Motion have cited this as one of the most important
books in 20th Century nature writing, and the
bestselling author Mark Cocker has provided an
introduction on the importance of Baker, his writings
and the diaries - creating the essential volume of
Baker's writings. Since the hardback was published in
2010, papers, maps, and letters have come to light which
in turn provide a little more background into J A
Baker,s history.Contemporaries - particularly from while
he was at school in Chelmsford - have kindly provided
insights, remembering a school friend who clearly made
an impact on his generation. In the longer term, there
is hope of an archive of these papers being established,
but in the meantime, and with the arrival of this
paperback edition, there is a chance to reveal a little
more of what has been learned. Among fragments of
letters to Baker was one from a reader who praised a
piece that Baker had written in RSPB Birds magazine in
1971. Apart from a paper on peregrines which Baker wrote
for the Essex Bird Report, this article - entitled On
the Essex Coast - appears to be his only other published
piece of writing, and, with the kind agreement of the
RSPB, it has been included in this updated new paperback
edition of Baker,s astounding work. |
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