The Invention of the Countryside - by Donna Landry (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Today's hunting debate began in the eighteenth century, when the idea of the countryside was being invented through the imaginative displacement of agricultural production in favour of country sports and landscape tourism. Between the Game Act of 1671 and its repeal in 1831, writers on walking and hunting often held opposed views, but contributed equally to the origins of modern ecology, while sharing a commitment to trespass that preserved common rights in an era of growing privatization.

Review Quotes

'[Landry] writes objectively yet with well-researched passion...Each chapter is well argued and within each chapter are many charming vignettes on attitudes...the delights it holds are well worth reading. It is strongly recommended.' - James Crowden, Western Morning News

'...a superbly rich study...students of literature, landscape and cultural history at all levels... will wish to reread it again and again.' - Choice

'...a scholarly thesis in its structure...the dazzlingly technical precision of her analysis...betrays the eye of a keen and experienced horsewoman.' - Timothy Mowl, Times Literary Supplement

'[Landry's] insights give an illuminating background to familiar debates and concepts.' - Robbie Hudson, The Sunday Times

'...an important contribution to the study of literature and the environment...an engaging book.' - Deborah Kennedy, The Wordsworth Circle

About the Author

DONNA LANDRY is Professor of English at Wayne State University and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. Her publications include, as author, The Muses of Resistance: Labouring-Class Women's Poetry in Britain, 1739-1796 and, with Gerald MacLean, she is co-author of Materialist Feminisms.