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The Illustrated History of the Countryside
Oliver Rackham's book tells the many-layered story of the British landscape using landscape photography and a series of photographic essays, describing eight of the author's walks within areas of natural beauty.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 1986
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854 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Rackham
28 books16 followersOliver Rackham OBE FBA was an English academic who studied the British countryside, especially trees, woodlands and wood pasture, Rackham wrote a number of books, including The History of the Countryside (1986) and one on Hatfield Forest. He also studied and published extensively on the ecology of Crete, Greece.
In 1998 he was awarded the OBE for "services to Nature Conservation". In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Historical Ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.
He was a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Keeper of the College Records. On 15 October 2007 Rackham was elected Master of Corpus Christi College until 1 October 2008.
In 1998 he was awarded the OBE for "services to Nature Conservation". In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Historical Ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.
He was a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Keeper of the College Records. On 15 October 2007 Rackham was elected Master of Corpus Christi College until 1 October 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 6, 2021
Oliver Rackham - The History of the Countryside
(Phoenix Giant, 1998)
The History of the Countryside is *almost* the definitive introduction to the titular topic. The book is an impressive amalgamation of archeology, biology, conservation, history and social commentary with a healthy heap of opinion.
I say 'almost' for a reason. And I think I make a valid point. Though Rackham provides an exhaustive account of the history of our beautiful landscape, he does so by very rarely covering the area north of Birmingham and south of Scotland, with an over reliance on sources that never covered these areas in ancient history. Huge swathes of the text are dedicated to the Domesday book and the old Anglo-Saxon charters, which covered very little of the north of England and of course, as a native Mancunion, this was a disappointment to me, in fact, I'm almost certain parallels with America are mentioned more than, for example Chesire is, and many examples given are based in either Norfolk (where Rackham grew up) or Cambridge (where he studied) and in a text that stresses the uniqueness of individual sites, this felt like a let down for me to see the north neglected.
I feel the southern bias is testament to the books age, originally published in 1986, a time when Britain only "really" included areas south of Birmingham.
I nearly gave the book 3 stars as it throws a plethora of unfamiliar terms at you and expects you to hit the ground running, I stuck it out due to Mr. Rackham's prose which I found delightfully entertaining and at times funny. I pushed it back up to a four after realising more than I thought had sunk in and by the last chapters I had a greater understanding of features in our countryside.
On a side note, I have never used an index as much as I have reading this book, to-ing and fro-ing to re-read definitions and terms
I have learnt so much from this book, strange facts I never thought about, interesting anomolies in ecology and conservation and some fantastic knowledge on how our ancestors helped to shape our landscape from the mesolithic times to 20th century.
Overall though, I found the book to be quite cumbersome, maybe in the hands of somebody more knowledgeable would it be truly appreciated, but then, I fear said person may find its scope a bit too narrow and not as detailed as could be.
(Phoenix Giant, 1998)
The History of the Countryside is *almost* the definitive introduction to the titular topic. The book is an impressive amalgamation of archeology, biology, conservation, history and social commentary with a healthy heap of opinion.
I say 'almost' for a reason. And I think I make a valid point. Though Rackham provides an exhaustive account of the history of our beautiful landscape, he does so by very rarely covering the area north of Birmingham and south of Scotland, with an over reliance on sources that never covered these areas in ancient history. Huge swathes of the text are dedicated to the Domesday book and the old Anglo-Saxon charters, which covered very little of the north of England and of course, as a native Mancunion, this was a disappointment to me, in fact, I'm almost certain parallels with America are mentioned more than, for example Chesire is, and many examples given are based in either Norfolk (where Rackham grew up) or Cambridge (where he studied) and in a text that stresses the uniqueness of individual sites, this felt like a let down for me to see the north neglected.
I feel the southern bias is testament to the books age, originally published in 1986, a time when Britain only "really" included areas south of Birmingham.
I nearly gave the book 3 stars as it throws a plethora of unfamiliar terms at you and expects you to hit the ground running, I stuck it out due to Mr. Rackham's prose which I found delightfully entertaining and at times funny. I pushed it back up to a four after realising more than I thought had sunk in and by the last chapters I had a greater understanding of features in our countryside.
On a side note, I have never used an index as much as I have reading this book, to-ing and fro-ing to re-read definitions and terms
I have learnt so much from this book, strange facts I never thought about, interesting anomolies in ecology and conservation and some fantastic knowledge on how our ancestors helped to shape our landscape from the mesolithic times to 20th century.
Overall though, I found the book to be quite cumbersome, maybe in the hands of somebody more knowledgeable would it be truly appreciated, but then, I fear said person may find its scope a bit too narrow and not as detailed as could be.
November 21, 2012
Rackham is basically the greatest environmental geographer the world has ever seen. The book is dense and takes ages, but what you see when you look at the countryside, especially trees and fields will be completely altered. This book tells you most of what you will need to know about the British countryside. His chapters on woodland, grassland and animals are particularly strong but otherwise most important are:
Woodland, (coppiced pollarded and suckered natural woodland), plantations (imported and planted trees rackham hates) wood pasture (grazing areas), forests (areas created for hunting), fields (arable farming), hedges (not all modern) elms (church elms and elm disease), highways (roman roads just motorways), heathland (most common type of wilderness, heath (=low undergrowth like heather, often grazed), moorland (hills covered also in heather, often ignored), grassland (animal eaten pasture and hay growing meadows) ponds dells and pits (man made depressions), marshes and fens (especially the Fens and their drainage). Also animal extinctions and reintroductions.
Three quotes summing up:
{Rackham’s thoughts on woodland in a nutshell}
Woods never cease to exist by being felled - they always grow back again - the cutting down of a woodland is not very important - it has probably been cut down before. A more important question is - why did it not grow back?
…
{paraphrasing}
From the Neolithic until the late iron age about 50% of Britain’s woodland was destroyed. This would have been an immense undertaking. Trees are hard to cut down and harder still to stop from growing again. Sustained cattle grazing stumps can kill a woodland, stopping any new trees growing, but could there really have been enough livestock for this? Woodland does not burn easily, and a tree-truk with a circumference of more than 10 inches is almost fireproof.
{Parks in Britain}
“If there were Roman parks in Britain they did not outlast the Empire. Parks are conspicuously absent from Anglo Saxon, though common in medieval perambulations. Our park tradition derives from the Normans’ interest in deer husbandry. This began before the Domesday book, in which thrity-five parks are recorded. But there is one pre-conquest reference: at Ongar (Essex) a park dated 1045 mentions “the wood… outside the deerhay”. The Anglo-Saxon word derhage, is ambiguous -- it normally means a hedge for keeping deer out or a devise for catching them -- but Ongar is thesite of one of the only two Domesday parks in Esserx, well known in later centuries as Ongar Grteat Park. The Norman fashion for parks therefore began to penetrate England just before the Conquest.
{on animal records}
Where an animal survived late enough to have a written record, this is often liable to misinterpretation. There are not only actual beasts but beasts heraldic and metaphorical; anyone wishing to infer bears from the place-name Barham (kent) should ask himself whether he would likewise infer lions from Lyonshall (Herefordshire). Even when the animals are real, they die out in remote places; the last survivors are not clesly observed and may be misidentified (how many readers can swear to the difference between a wolf and an Alsation dog?) Animals on the verge of extinction become the theme of romance and song in which fact is confused with fiction.
Woodland, (coppiced pollarded and suckered natural woodland), plantations (imported and planted trees rackham hates) wood pasture (grazing areas), forests (areas created for hunting), fields (arable farming), hedges (not all modern) elms (church elms and elm disease), highways (roman roads just motorways), heathland (most common type of wilderness, heath (=low undergrowth like heather, often grazed), moorland (hills covered also in heather, often ignored), grassland (animal eaten pasture and hay growing meadows) ponds dells and pits (man made depressions), marshes and fens (especially the Fens and their drainage). Also animal extinctions and reintroductions.
Three quotes summing up:
{Rackham’s thoughts on woodland in a nutshell}
Woods never cease to exist by being felled - they always grow back again - the cutting down of a woodland is not very important - it has probably been cut down before. A more important question is - why did it not grow back?
…
{paraphrasing}
From the Neolithic until the late iron age about 50% of Britain’s woodland was destroyed. This would have been an immense undertaking. Trees are hard to cut down and harder still to stop from growing again. Sustained cattle grazing stumps can kill a woodland, stopping any new trees growing, but could there really have been enough livestock for this? Woodland does not burn easily, and a tree-truk with a circumference of more than 10 inches is almost fireproof.
{Parks in Britain}
“If there were Roman parks in Britain they did not outlast the Empire. Parks are conspicuously absent from Anglo Saxon, though common in medieval perambulations. Our park tradition derives from the Normans’ interest in deer husbandry. This began before the Domesday book, in which thrity-five parks are recorded. But there is one pre-conquest reference: at Ongar (Essex) a park dated 1045 mentions “the wood… outside the deerhay”. The Anglo-Saxon word derhage, is ambiguous -- it normally means a hedge for keeping deer out or a devise for catching them -- but Ongar is thesite of one of the only two Domesday parks in Esserx, well known in later centuries as Ongar Grteat Park. The Norman fashion for parks therefore began to penetrate England just before the Conquest.
{on animal records}
Where an animal survived late enough to have a written record, this is often liable to misinterpretation. There are not only actual beasts but beasts heraldic and metaphorical; anyone wishing to infer bears from the place-name Barham (kent) should ask himself whether he would likewise infer lions from Lyonshall (Herefordshire). Even when the animals are real, they die out in remote places; the last survivors are not clesly observed and may be misidentified (how many readers can swear to the difference between a wolf and an Alsation dog?) Animals on the verge of extinction become the theme of romance and song in which fact is confused with fiction.
December 6, 2012
One of my absolute favourite books, read three times. Tells the story of how any and every aspect of the countryside has been shaped by humankind. Fascinating on three levels:
1. For the story of the countryside. The countryside concerned is the British, and mainly English countryside - and mainly the Eastern part of that, but Rackham has travelled to the US and Europe and draws out some of the parallels here too.
2. For the transparent reporting of what is known, what is conjecture, and what is guesswork. Shows how an amazing range of sources, from tree rings to Anglo-Saxon charters; Luftwaffe reconnaissance photos to field visits, go into making good science.
3. For the inferred story of the writer. It's hard not to wonder about the life that was spent to gather and craft the knowledge in the book. Beautiful, clear English throughout, empowering the reader at every turn, yet just often enough a dry comment to engage and charm.
1. For the story of the countryside. The countryside concerned is the British, and mainly English countryside - and mainly the Eastern part of that, but Rackham has travelled to the US and Europe and draws out some of the parallels here too.
2. For the transparent reporting of what is known, what is conjecture, and what is guesswork. Shows how an amazing range of sources, from tree rings to Anglo-Saxon charters; Luftwaffe reconnaissance photos to field visits, go into making good science.
3. For the inferred story of the writer. It's hard not to wonder about the life that was spent to gather and craft the knowledge in the book. Beautiful, clear English throughout, empowering the reader at every turn, yet just often enough a dry comment to engage and charm.
December 15, 2008
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it very informative as well as easy to read and extremely well written. Well researched and Rackham has a obvious and keen personal interest as well as a professional one and his enthusiasm comes through in his writing. This is a very accessible book even to those with only a passing interest in and knowledge of the countryside
February 18, 2025
Captivating trip through the UKs landscapes as well as conservation efforts. I have a new appreciation for pollards
October 29, 2019
The bible for people interested in how humans have changed the British landscape over thousands of years. Gives so many ideas for interpreting our surroundings.
I now know from the hedge rule, that the hedge at the top of my street is a minimum of 500 years old, and forms the edge of what I believe to be a medieval deer park. The track running alongside it is an old salter's pack horse route, with its origin in coastal salt pans, 20 miles south.
The 100 foot high sycamore tree at the end of the road must have been planted in the seventeenth century, since it wasn't present in England before then. It's part of an avenue leading to the old hall of which only 2 are left.
We have been able to trace medieval ridge and furrow back to the documents of the Bishop of Durham in the 12th century, after identifying it in our local fields.
The odd platform on top of a local hill, with eighteenth century stone walls, marks the site of the windmill. Previously, the bend in the local stream marks where an earlier watermill sat.
The strange crop marks in another local field are now identified by local archaeologists as a prehistoric cursus or processional way, possibly leading towards a strange local hill which may turn out to be a hill fort, although local legend associates it with the "Lambton Worm..."
Another local hill, the highest, bears the name Warden (Woden?) Law, with the Seven Sisters (trees on top of a burial mound" opposite it.
So look around at your local landscape, at the trees, stones, plants, hills and fields... You never know what you'll find!
We are presently using some of these discoveries to fight a plan to build houses on our beloved landscape!
Update: the plan to build on the local park, with its ridge and furrow system and medieval walls has been soundly defeated. Indeed, the local political party who promoted the development has been overwhelmingly defeated and kicked out of our particular area! Couldn't happen to a nastier bunch! (Allegedly). The local history society has been revitalised. Other local communities are following suit to protect their green landscapes, and are hopeful of success. I'd say that's a win.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/...
I now know from the hedge rule, that the hedge at the top of my street is a minimum of 500 years old, and forms the edge of what I believe to be a medieval deer park. The track running alongside it is an old salter's pack horse route, with its origin in coastal salt pans, 20 miles south.
The 100 foot high sycamore tree at the end of the road must have been planted in the seventeenth century, since it wasn't present in England before then. It's part of an avenue leading to the old hall of which only 2 are left.
We have been able to trace medieval ridge and furrow back to the documents of the Bishop of Durham in the 12th century, after identifying it in our local fields.
The odd platform on top of a local hill, with eighteenth century stone walls, marks the site of the windmill. Previously, the bend in the local stream marks where an earlier watermill sat.
The strange crop marks in another local field are now identified by local archaeologists as a prehistoric cursus or processional way, possibly leading towards a strange local hill which may turn out to be a hill fort, although local legend associates it with the "Lambton Worm..."
Another local hill, the highest, bears the name Warden (Woden?) Law, with the Seven Sisters (trees on top of a burial mound" opposite it.
So look around at your local landscape, at the trees, stones, plants, hills and fields... You never know what you'll find!
We are presently using some of these discoveries to fight a plan to build houses on our beloved landscape!
Update: the plan to build on the local park, with its ridge and furrow system and medieval walls has been soundly defeated. Indeed, the local political party who promoted the development has been overwhelmingly defeated and kicked out of our particular area! Couldn't happen to a nastier bunch! (Allegedly). The local history society has been revitalised. Other local communities are following suit to protect their green landscapes, and are hopeful of success. I'd say that's a win.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/...
February 19, 2015
Very few academic books win literary awards. This one did - the 1986 Angel Literary Award - in addition to little things like the Natural World Book of the Year Award.
Rackham is a master of his field. He's knowledgeable, opinionated, passionate and very entertaining. One of my all-time favourite books.
It covers the history of Britain's landscape from the end of the last ice age, noting native species, introduced species and extinct species, both flora and fauna, and the effects of human intervention. Rackham seeks not only to inform, but to dispel commonly held myths. He's at his very best when it comes to trees and woodlands - his speciality - both the scope of the work is truly impressive.
Rackham is a master of his field. He's knowledgeable, opinionated, passionate and very entertaining. One of my all-time favourite books.
It covers the history of Britain's landscape from the end of the last ice age, noting native species, introduced species and extinct species, both flora and fauna, and the effects of human intervention. Rackham seeks not only to inform, but to dispel commonly held myths. He's at his very best when it comes to trees and woodlands - his speciality - both the scope of the work is truly impressive.
September 13, 2017
Charming book. Well-written, beautiful pictures and a sort of walk-dialogue as well as a history.
April 27, 2023
This book was bought for me as a gift and was possibly the most perfect book gift I've ever received. Written in the 1980s, it manages to provide an encyclopaedic history of each of the different elements that go together to make up the intricate patchwork of the British countryside, without feeling like you're reading an encyclopaedia. Packed with science, data and evidence it is also replete with human stories and relatable observations. More than anything, we are left with a sense of the layers of time that are evidenced in even the humblest elements of our surroundings, and of the different timescales at which nature operates. It is also an eye-opener into how much earlier in history humans had completely transformed the British landscape.
Two big questions remain in my mind at the end - first, to know what has happened in the 40-50 years since Rackham was gathering notes and writing this. We hear of much that has improved but I'm sure there is also more that has been lost. The second, as he regrets the dwindling richness of landscapes that owed their vitality to lost human practices and usage, I can also perceive that even that richness was likely what was left from before those usages began. How much more has been lost that we shall never know existed?
Two big questions remain in my mind at the end - first, to know what has happened in the 40-50 years since Rackham was gathering notes and writing this. We hear of much that has improved but I'm sure there is also more that has been lost. The second, as he regrets the dwindling richness of landscapes that owed their vitality to lost human practices and usage, I can also perceive that even that richness was likely what was left from before those usages began. How much more has been lost that we shall never know existed?
January 16, 2022
There isn’t another book to match this! What Rackham doesn’t know is not worth knowing! ( No, I don’t really mean that but just want to get the point across!)
Rackham devoted his life to the study of the countryside and woodlands of the UK -and it shows. An immersive narrative for those with the patience to follow him.
Rackham devoted his life to the study of the countryside and woodlands of the UK -and it shows. An immersive narrative for those with the patience to follow him.
May 19, 2020
A bit dry and tedious, but also fascinating and eye opening. Even though this is about the English Countryside, I find myself looking at the trees and other flora around the city and province a little more closely!
November 13, 2020
Necessary research
January 25, 2021
Very well researched. I learnt so much for this book but is only a good read for more academic reading
January 22, 2024
I use this as a reference book mostly, rather than reading cover to cover.
I found some chapters fascinating, others less so.
I found some chapters fascinating, others less so.
February 22, 2024
Geweldig, nooit gedacht dat ik dit zo geweldig zou vinden. Geweldig!
January 27, 2025
One of those books that I leave lying around and pick at now and again.
Absolutely fascinating and apparently the authoritative text on the subject ....surprisingly it's also quite funny !
Absolutely fascinating and apparently the authoritative text on the subject ....surprisingly it's also quite funny !
December 31, 2014
A fascinating book!
How to read the countryside and see the history of invasion, colonisation, ecology, horticulture and agriculture all around you, woven into every tree, ditch, field and hedgerow.
There is a romantic dualistic misnomer in most peoples understanding of our landscape, namely that the urban is a totally man made environment whilst the rural landscape is the opposite,it's antithesis;nature untouched and unbound.
A fallacy that this book thoroughly dispels.
Why do we have fens,open moorland, patchwork fields and hedgerows.
Why do the field systems of the Midlands differ from those of the home counties and again from those of Cornwall or Cumbria?
The answers are in this book.
This edition is an adaptation from a peer referenced text aimed at accessing a wider readership but, it still reads a little dry then at times. If you want more detail then read in conjunction with Making Of The English Landscape or read the original referenced edition;The History of the Countryside: The Classic History of Britain's Landscape, Flora and Fauna
March 20, 2022
A timeless reference book of how the landscape of England came to be. A book to dive in and out of as need be. A great chapter on forests, woods and the difference between them; on timber and other trees; and on management thereof.
November 12, 2021
It's a tough book if you are just an amateur with a passing interest. This is a huge piece of research, dense with information.
But Oliver Rackham's attention to detail is impressive and his love of the subject shines through as he picks apart the historical development of plant and animal life, with a canny and persuasive line in good and bad conservation practices. While I can't pretend I took it all in (and I have to admit to skimming large sections just to get through it all), I feel like I have had a good primer in understanding the formation of the British countryside, and how this has been shaped by man over the last few thousand years.
I also like how he is unafraid to correct erroneous bits of perceived wisdom, dismantling them with wit and precision. You think hedges are man-made, relatively modern things? Nope. Does a forest need trees to be a forest? Nope. Was the industrial revolution a big factor in the decimation of woodlands? Nope. Were the Highland Clearances the main cause of the drop in Scottish Highland populations from the 18th to 19th centuries? Nope.
But Oliver Rackham's attention to detail is impressive and his love of the subject shines through as he picks apart the historical development of plant and animal life, with a canny and persuasive line in good and bad conservation practices. While I can't pretend I took it all in (and I have to admit to skimming large sections just to get through it all), I feel like I have had a good primer in understanding the formation of the British countryside, and how this has been shaped by man over the last few thousand years.
I also like how he is unafraid to correct erroneous bits of perceived wisdom, dismantling them with wit and precision. You think hedges are man-made, relatively modern things? Nope. Does a forest need trees to be a forest? Nope. Was the industrial revolution a big factor in the decimation of woodlands? Nope. Were the Highland Clearances the main cause of the drop in Scottish Highland populations from the 18th to 19th centuries? Nope.
March 30, 2019
Oliver Rackham was the leading academic and writer on historical ecology (to me and you the study of how our countryside ended up looking the way it does), a topic I've become more interested in since I retired. This book is an easy read (I did try wading through 'Woodlands' but that was a bit too dense a read for me) and dispels many long held myths about our countryside. If I have any criticism, personally I wish the chapter on marshland had been longer and sometimes Rackham can veer towards the dogmatic and infer that everyone but him is wide of the mark.
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January 14, 2008Recommended by Tom Turner - author of 'Garden History: Philosophy and Design 2000 BC - 2000 AD' - as one of forty books which - he suggests - every landscape student should have seen. Thanks to the Landscape Information Hub UK. http://www.lih.gre.ac.uk/histhe/books...
October 21, 2012
an essential guide to the natural and man made features of the British Countryside. A refernce tome I'm always coming back to..
July 31, 2022
Very interesting, with good pictures.
September 4, 2012
a dip into book that gets you hooked
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews