Product Description

Conservationist and naturalist John Lister-Kaye, founder of the Aigas Field Centre, writes about his life in the glens, the wildlife that surrounds him and the primeval magical exchange that takes place between man and nature once so central to ancient civilisations. He describes finding the ruined nineteenth-century estate that is to become Aigas, taking it over and turning it into a going concern as an Educational Centre, and his own personal motivation, following the Torrey Canyon oil spillage and natural disasters in the 1960s, to become a conservationist. Interspersed within the narrative detail are engaging and enlightening descriptions of flora and fauna. John Lister-Kaye carries the reader very effectively into the minute worlds he observes and backs up keen scrutiny with facts and figures. SONG OF THE ROLLING EARTH is a notably entertaining and enlightening addition to the canon of naturalist writing that includes Gavin Maxwell's RING OF BRIGHT WATER, Henry Williamson's TARKA THE OTTER and the works of Gerald Durrell.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #138221 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'A wonderfully lyrical book surging with the sheer joy of nature, from Scotland's premier nature writer.' Magnus Magnusson; ' An environmental classic', SPECTATOR; 'Lister-Kaye establishes himself as one of the finest nature writers in the language', SCOTSMAN; 'Wonderful and evocative', GLASGOW EVENING NEWS; 'A masterful piece of storytelling', COUNTRY LIFE

Christopher Smout, Historiographer Royal in Scotland
'A personal, finely poetic book, an odyssey of people, places and wild things.'

Virginia McKenna, President of the Born Free Society
'John Lister-Kaye's remarkable gift as a storyteller holds one spellbound. The book is a little masterpiece.'

Customer Reviews

Buy it, treasure it, go back to it over and over again.
I read nature books all the time. This one is exceptional. It is part autobiography and part a natural history of a place called Aigas in the Scottish Highlands. The author writes like a poet; there is no doubt at all that you are in the hands of a real naturalist and a master of words. The chapter on his crofting neighbour Bella Macrae had me in tears. In this book you learn that John Lister-Kaye has created a world famous field studies centre around his home. He leads you there by the hand and you emerge richer, wiser, fully and inspiringly engaged in the wild nature we so often take for granted.

The Amazing Story of the Highlands of Scotland
This book is a hidden gem. Before reading it I noticed that on the back of the paperback that it's categorized as a "memoir". Thank goodness I didn't let that put me off - in my experience memoirs all too easily drift into dull and pompous self-aggrandizement. The genius of this book is that John Lister-Kaye uses his own personal experiences, his breadth and depth of knowledge and his lovely writing style to bring the extraordinary story of the Highlands of Scotland to life. It's a massive and often sad story, but the minutest details of the personalities, the wildlife and even the geology of the Highlands just jump off the page. Big insights are tucked away, for example the massive influence of the Victorian landowning classes "world view" on what we now believe to be classic Highland scenery. Thanks to the certainty with which they classed all creatures either as "game" to be treasured and preserved at all costs, or "vermin" to be reviled and obliterated, they produced "deserts" of heather-clad moorland, devoid of natural diversity. The history of human endeavour in this unforgiving landscape, the massive and turbulent geological story and the fascinating creatures who've adapted themselves to live here are all explored with knowledge and panache. This is so much more than a memoir, it should be required reading for all who care about the Highlands of Scotland, its people and its wildlife.

If you live on this planet, you will enjoy this book!
It is one thing to have knowledge and it is another to be able to communicate it. Lister-Kaye wins top marks for both - a profound and unusual insight matched with the skills of a true wordsmith. His description of a fish is just astoundingly graceful and I'll never look at a tree again without recalling the ash tree at Aigas. Mesmerising and imaginative writing without a cliche in sight. Strangely, for a book about nature, history and the future, it seems to be especially relevant to those living in urban environments. Reading this is like permission to enter a magic kingdom. So switch off your computers and T.V.'s, leave the shopping malls, even if it's just for a moment to look up at the sky.