A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects

A Waterstones Best Book of 2024: Nature Writing

The untold story of rural Britain revealed through its artefacts

'A really lovely, fascinating book. I dived straight into this clever, joyous, celebration of nature, history, and – of course – the countryside.' Charles Spencer, author of The White Ship

For most of human history, we were rural folk.

Our daily lives were bound up with working the land, living within the rhythm of the seasons. We poured our energies into growing food, tending to animals and watching the weather. Family, friends and neighbours were often one and the same. Life revolved around the village and its key spaces and places – the church, the green, the school and the marketplace.

And yet rural life is oddly invisible our historical records. The daily routine of the peasant, the farmer or the craftsperson could never compete with the glamour of city life, war and royal drama. Lives went unrecorded, stories untold.

There is, though, one way in which we can learn about our rural past. The things we have left behind provide a connection that no document can match; physical artefacts are touchstones that breathe life into its history. From farming tools to children’s toys, domestic objects and strange curios, the everyday items of the past reveal fascinating insights into an often-forgotten way of life. Birth, death, celebration, work, crime, play, medicine, beliefs, diet and our relationship with nature can all be read from these remnants of our past.

From ancient artefacts to modern-day memorabilia, this startling book weaves a rich tapestry from the fragments of our rural past.

About the author

Sally Coulthard is an expert in all things nature, history and craft. She has published over twenty-five non-fiction books and her titles have been translated into a dozen languages. She studied Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Oxford and worked in television before becoming a writer. She lives on a smallholding in North Yorkshire with her family and writes a column for Country Living magazine called ‘A Good Life’.