Common Ground
Published on 7. May 2015
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-09-195455-0 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the 2015 Portico Prize for Non-Fiction
'Sensitive, thoughtful and poetic ... leading us into a whole new way of looking at the world' Michael Palin
'Absolutely mesmerizing, utterly beautiful and engrossing' Joanne Harris
After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, and about to become a father for the first time, Rob Cowen finds himself in unfamiliar territory. Disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for open space, he ventures out to a nearby edge-land: a pylon-slung tangle of wood, hedge, field, meadow and river that lies unclaimed and overlooked on the outskirts of town.
Digging deeper into this lost landscape, he begins to uncover its many layers and lives - beast, bird, insect, plant and people - in kaleidoscopic detail. As the seasons change and the birth of his child draws closer, his transformative journey into the blurry space where human and nature meet becomes increasingly profound. In bringing this edge-land to life, Cowen offers both a both a unique portrait of people and place through time and an unforgettable exploration of the common ground we share with the natural world, the past and each other.
'Sensitive, thoughtful and poetic ... leading us into a whole new way of looking at the world' Michael Palin
'Absolutely mesmerizing, utterly beautiful and engrossing' Joanne Harris
After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, and about to become a father for the first time, Rob Cowen finds himself in unfamiliar territory. Disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for open space, he ventures out to a nearby edge-land: a pylon-slung tangle of wood, hedge, field, meadow and river that lies unclaimed and overlooked on the outskirts of town.
Digging deeper into this lost landscape, he begins to uncover its many layers and lives - beast, bird, insect, plant and people - in kaleidoscopic detail. As the seasons change and the birth of his child draws closer, his transformative journey into the blurry space where human and nature meet becomes increasingly profound. In bringing this edge-land to life, Cowen offers both a both a unique portrait of people and place through time and an unforgettable exploration of the common ground we share with the natural world, the past and each other.
Reviews / Votes
"One of the most original books of 2015." -- Melissa Harrison * Books of the Year, The Times * "Bold and beautiful." -- Robert Macfarlane * New Statesman * "Cracking... Vividly and movingly described... Cowen writes very well." -- Alan Bennett * London Review of Books * "Absolutely mesmerising, utterly beautiful, utterly engrossing - it takes a lot for a book to give me goosebumps but this one did." -- Joanne Harris * Simon Mayo Drivetime BBC Radio 2 * "[A] multi-faceted, touched-by-genius exploration of a stretch of Harrogate wasteland." -- John Lewis-Stempel * Sunday Express, Books of the Year * "Marks out Cowen as a new writer who is both entertaining and significant... Cowen's descriptive writing is visceral and gripping... and his attention to colour is particularly striking." -- Richard Benson * Independent * "Magical... Deeply original... a detailed nature study [and] a moving memoir... I became both intrigued and enchanted by this hybrid approach." -- Sara Maitland * Countryfile magazine, Book of the Month * "Highly poetic... like an archaeologist, Cowen unearths histories, natural life and decayed infrastructure in a small area bordering the River Nidd... Above all, Common Ground is about the transformative power of this unnoticed piece of land, if one can only stand and stare for long enough'" -- Serena Tarling * Financial Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 223 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
490 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-195455-0 (9780091954550)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2015
1st Edition
Cornerstone Digital
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Rob Cowen is an award-winning journalist and writer who has authored regular columns on nature and travel for the Independent, Independent on Sunday and the Telegraph. Described by the Guardian as `one of the UK's most exciting nature writers' he previously received the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors for his first book Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being in the Wild (2012). He lives in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.