A very idiosyncratic history of English farming told through the story of a single farm, Woodston, in Worcestershire from the stone age through to the present. It’s made very present because Lewis-Stempel’s grandfather was the farm manager and he relates many family anecdotes as well as long passages describing his own work as an organic farmer. He’s a rather grumpy iconoclast and rails against both modernity and environmentalists, but I very much enjoyed his strong opinions, it gave the book a real personality. I learnt an awful lot about the practice of farming through the ages, including the benefits of the Ferguson TE20 tractor, although the hundreds of plant and animal species mentioned passed through my brain without much retention. A very enjoyable “feel good” read. Very tempted to try some of his other books now.