A Green and Pleasant Land
How England's Gardeners Fought the Second World War
Published on 7. March 2013
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-09-194415-5 (ISBN)
Description
'War is the normal occupation of man - war and gardening' Winston Churchill
A Green and Pleasant Land tells the intriguing and inspiring story of how Britain's wartime government encouraged and cajoled its citizens to grow their own fruit and vegetables. As the Second World War began in earnest and a whole nation listened to wireless broadcasts, dug holes for Anderson shelters, counted their coupons and made do and mended, so too were they instructed to 'Dig for Victory'.
Ordinary people, as well as gardening experts, rose to the challenge: gardens, scrubland, allotments and even public parks were soon helping to feed a nation deprived of fresh produce. As Ursula Buchan reveals, this practical contribution to the Home Front was tackled with thrifty ingenuity, grumbling humour and extraordinary fortitude. The simple act of turning over soil and tending new plants became important psychologically for a population under constant threat of bombing and even invasion. Gardening reminded people that their country and its more innocent and insular pursuits were worth fighting for. Gardening in wartime Britain was a part of the fight for freedom.
A Green and Pleasant Land tells the intriguing and inspiring story of how Britain's wartime government encouraged and cajoled its citizens to grow their own fruit and vegetables. As the Second World War began in earnest and a whole nation listened to wireless broadcasts, dug holes for Anderson shelters, counted their coupons and made do and mended, so too were they instructed to 'Dig for Victory'.
Ordinary people, as well as gardening experts, rose to the challenge: gardens, scrubland, allotments and even public parks were soon helping to feed a nation deprived of fresh produce. As Ursula Buchan reveals, this practical contribution to the Home Front was tackled with thrifty ingenuity, grumbling humour and extraordinary fortitude. The simple act of turning over soil and tending new plants became important psychologically for a population under constant threat of bombing and even invasion. Gardening reminded people that their country and its more innocent and insular pursuits were worth fighting for. Gardening in wartime Britain was a part of the fight for freedom.
Reviews / Votes
Informative and highly entertaining * Daily Mail * Meticulously researched, gripping and often humorous -- Leslie Geddes Brown * Country Life * Elegantly written and rich with horticultural vignettes * Spectator * Buchan's book provides an intriguing glimpse of horticultural life in war conditions . . . [An] excellent book, both touching and informative on a historical level. * Lady * A compelling account ... It also unearths some unexpected facts - such as the liberal use of cyanide as a pesticide. * House & Garden *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
621 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-194415-5 (9780091944155)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ursula Buchan studied modern history at Cambridge University, before training as a horticulturist at the RHS Gardens, Wisley and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She wrote a gardening column for a succession of national newspapers, including the Observer, Sunday Telegraph and Daily Telegraph, as well as The Spectator, for more than twenty-five years. Shehas published fifteen books and won two major writing awards from the Garden Media Guild. She was recently awarded the Garden Media Guild's Gardening Columnist of the Year 2011.