Walk down any village high street, old trackway or country footpath and you will encounter a wealth of rural history. Every wood, settlement, bridge, cottage or road has it's own story. The Countryside Encyclopaedia providea a key to understanding the evolution of the rural scene and its components.
There have been many fine books about the British countryside, including several written by Richard Muir. This new work incorporates the latest information frmo archaeology, local history and landscape history, and is arranged alphabetically, allowing instant access to information about barns, deer parks, ponds, warrens and hundreds of other facets of the countryside. Not only does it help you identify, for example, a quoit or pele tower, but, having done so, it also provide an authoritative essay on each subject explaining its origins and function. Because the range of topics covered is so varied, and the material so endlessly diverting, this is a perfect book for browsers, as well as anyone seeking specific information on one particular subject. The text is illustrated by over a hundred of Richard Muir's own photographs, many of them in colour, contributing to a book that is beautiful as well as scholarly.
The Countryside Encyclopaedia will delight anybody remotely interested in Britain's outdoor heritage.