Insel am Rand der Welt

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER<BR><BR>'Affectionate, evocative, illuminating. A story of survival - of a flock, a landscape and a disappearing way of life. I love this book' Nigel Slater<BR><BR>'Triumphant, a pastoral for the 21st century' Helen Davies, Sunday Times, Books of the Year<BR><BR>'The nature publishing sensation of the year, unsentimental yet luminous' Melissa Harrison, The Times, Books of the Year<BR><BR>Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations. Their way of life is ordered by the seasons and the work they demand, and has been for hundreds of years. A Viking would understand the work they do: sending the sheep to the fells in the summer and making the hay; the autumn fairs where the flocks are replenished; the gruelling toil of winter when the sheep must be kept alive, and the light-headedness that comes with spring, as the lambs are born and the sheep get ready to return to the fells.

Ein poetisches und passioniertes Buch über die Liebe zu einem Stück Land - 'Sunday Times' Naturbuch des Jahres 2020Als Junge lernte James Rebanks von seinem Großvater, das Land auf traditionelle Weise zu bewirtschaften. Der Familienbauernhof in den Hügeln des Lake District war Teil einer uralten Agrarlandschaft: ein Flickenteppich aus Äckern und Wiesen, Weiden und Hecken, in denen es von Wildtieren wimmelte. Doch als James den Hof erbte, war er kaum noch wiederzuerkennen. Die alten Steinscheunen waren verfallen, und am Himmel fehlten die Vögel und ihr vom Wind verwehter Gesang.Dieses Buch erzählt davon, was es bedeutet, an einem Ort wirklich verwurzelt zu sein und für ihn Verantwortung zu übernehmen. Es handelt von jahrhundertealten Traditionen, die verloren zu gehen drohen, vom Arbeiten im Rhythmus der Jahreszeiten und der Witterung, vom Zusammenleben mit der Natur und von der Gemeinschaft der Menschen auf dem Land. Es ist die hoffnungsvolle Geschichte eines jungen Farmers, der beschließt, der Zerstörung der Landschaft etwas entgegenzusetzen und eine winzige Ecke Englands zu retten.Dieses Buch erschien im Hardcover unter dem Titel 'Mein englisches Bauernleben'. Erstmals im Taschenbuch!

WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTHTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER<BR>'Enchanting' Telegraph<BR>'Miraculous' Isabella Tree<BR>'Exquisite' FT<BR><BR>From the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life, an unforgettable story of friendship, redemption and a life-changing voyage of discovery on a remote Norwegian island<BR><BR>How far do you have to go to find yourself?<BR><BR>One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on.<BR><BR>Back at home, Rebanks couldn't stop thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly - and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island.<BR><BR>This is the story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter, to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold.<BR><BR>Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.<BR><BR>*Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award*<BR>

'Die Naturbuch-Sensation des Jahres. Unsentimental und doch kraftvoll . . . Ein Gegenmittel gegen unseren modernen Großstadtzynismus und ein zutiefst moralisches Buch.' The TimesAllein mit sich und der Natur, im Takt der Jahreszeiten und der Arbeiten, die sie mit sich bringen - das Leben der Schäfer verläuft heute noch wie vor Hunderten von Jahren. Im Sommer werden die Schafe in die Berge getrieben, im Herbst die Herden vergrößert, im Winter die Tiere vor der Kälte geschützt, ehe im Frühling die Lämmer zur Welt kommen und der Kreislauf von Neuem beginnt.James Rebanks, der einer traditionellen englischen Schäferfamilie entstammt, bietet in seinem Buch einen einzigartigen Einblick in das ländliche Leben. Er erzählt von einer tiefen Verbundenheit zu seiner Heimat und von Menschen mit großer Bodenständigkeit, obwohl sich die Welt um sie herum vollständig verändert hat.'Ein kluges Buch über Heimat und ein Leben in den Zyklen der Natur.' Berliner Zeitung'Rebanks erzählt von der Hoffnung, die im Miteinander liegt, vom Halt, den Familie bietet - und vom Vertrauen auf eine natürliche Ordnung der Dinge. Er schreibt unsentimental, voller Gefühl und ohne Nostalgie.' ARD ttt'Das ist verdammt großartig.' Helen MacDonald, Autorin von 'H wie Habicht'

THE SUNDAY TIMES NATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>The new bestseller from the author of The Shepherd's Life<BR><BR>'A beautifully written story of a family, a home and a changing landscape' Nigel Slater <BR><BR>As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in the Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognisable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. <BR><BR>English Pastoral is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. <BR><BR>This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all.<BR><BR>'A heartfelt book and one that dares to hope' Alan Bennett<BR><BR>'A wonder of a book, fierce, tender, and beautiful' Helen Macdonald<BR><BR>Winner of the Wainwright Prize<BR>Winner of the Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year<BR>Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize<BR>Shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize <BR>Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize