'Coastlines', by Patrick Barkham

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 17 Απριλίου 2015 - 15:36

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The third book by British nature writer Patrick Barkham labels itself The Story of Our Shore but it isn't the whole story. Of the 11,000 miles of UK coastline, Barkham keeps to those 742 maintained by the National Trust, marking the 50th anniversary of its "Neptune" conservation project. Despite this limit, the book is big: its 10 essays skim Childhood, Death, War, Passion and the Future.

There is a soft focus on conservation: of ecology, of National Trust ideals, of seaside experiences and the stories that litter beaches. We meet opium-addicted Victorian shipwrecker-vicar Robert Stephen Hawker and Cornish Granny Grylls, smuggler of brandy jars dressed in baby clothes. And we get to know Barkham, whose sense for nature, especially human nature, permeates his book.

Coastlines: The Story of Our Shore, by Patrick Barkham, Granta, RRP£20, 368 pages

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