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. 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. English Pastoral is the story of an inheritance. It tells 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. (Shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize | Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize | Shortlisted for Fortnum & Mason Food Book Award | Longlisted for the Wainwright Prize | Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize)