The Soaring Life of the Lark

by John Lewis-Stempel

"How to describe the ecstatic song of larks? How the writers and poets have tried..."Skylarks are the heralds of our countryside. Their music is the quintessential sound of spring. The spirit of English pastoralism, they inspire poets, composers and farmers alike. In the trenches of World War I they were a reminder of the chattering meadows of home.Perhaps you were up with the lark, or as happy as one. History has seen us poeticise and musicise the bird, but also capture and eat them. We watch as they climb the sky, delight in their joyful singing, and yet we harm them too.The Soaring life of the Lark explores the music and poetry; the breath-taking heights and struggle to survive of one of Britain's most iconic songbirds.PRAISE FOR JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL'Britain's finest living nature writer' - The Times'Lewis-Stempel is a fourth-generation farmer gifted with an extraordinary ability to write prose that soars and sings' - Daily Mail

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Poetry, Natural History

96 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2021

Reviews

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book as a present to myself, to remind me always of the wonderful lark song I hear in a meadow beside the beach in the Scottish Highlands where I have walked almost every day for the last two weeks. It is the most glorious of birdsongs and so I wanted to know more about the bird itself.

The book is a tribute to skylarks from the perspective of their historical relationship with man from Roman times, through World War I, up to the present day problem of intensive farming practices, a theme Lewis-Stempel returns to again and again in his books, eg The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland. There are some stomach churning facts in this book which I won’t repeat and which I wish I didn’t know but it’s too late now. I could have lived without recipes on how to cook skylarks, albeit from ages past. It’s not something I really want to think about it. Suffice to say, thank goodness the RSPB took on the skylark’s cause and ended the practice of eating and caging them in this country at least.

The poetry selection is very lovely. Those from World War I are the most poignant, their authors managing to find beauty even in the wilderness and terror of the trenches. The most famous begins with lines we all know but how many of us could complete the verse?

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Lt-Col John McCrae (1872-1918), In Flanders Fields

3 stars because this feels more like a poetry book than anything else. I was expecting to learn more about the bird itself than about those humans it has inspired.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author churns out books as a method of farm diversification, and the results are variable. This book is certainly not one of his better efforts…a beautifully produced hardback for the price of a paperback classic novel reprint, but, with barely 40 pages of original text plus slightly more of others’ poetry, illustrations and rather silly lists, I certainly can not recommend it. The truth is that anyone could produce such a book with a week’s worth of googling.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the bird it explores, this book is a pure delight. Part natural, artistic, political and social history, this book continually brings a smile to one’s face and joy to the heart. A truly delightful way to pass an afternoon.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming but somewhat slight book which collects the author's own observations of the skylark with their history and excerpts of poetry and literature featuring them.

I requested this on the strength of Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field and The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland, and whilst I think this would make a nice stocking-filler for a bird lover friend or family member I'll likely be sticking to John Lewis-Stempel's longer form work in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK / Doubleday for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Mark McKerracher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few of John Lewis-Stempel's books, and always enjoyed the artful weaving together of nature lore, farming history, and literature. This is a short book (despite the price) and follows this trademark combo, with an exclusive focus on larks in Britain - especially skylarks, with a nod to other less common species. So we get lists of dialect names, some recipes, delightful historic monochrome pictures, lists of lark poems (and some entire poems reprinted), and an extended discussion about the skylark's surprising and poignant persistence in no-man's land during World War I (another of JLS's historical specialisms). We also learn about the Victorians' voracious appetite for skylark snacks, and the history of lark conservation right up to present-day lark-friendly farming. This was all new to me, and I loved reading it: a fascinating escape in a grim rainy December. My only complaint is that some of the factual biological matter in the first chapter is a little too baldly presented. Given that JLS is capable of making that kind of information more readable, I can't help wondering if he was bound to a tight word limit by the publisher.

[Sanjuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 5th book in this series; I've read the previous 4, on the owl, the oak, the hare, and the fox. The book on the owl was fantastic, but the other 3 became too formulaic, their structure and contents lazy and dull. My wife bought me this 5th volume for Christmas, knowing I am a bird enthusiast, and whether Lewis-Stempel stepped up his game, or I was in the right frame of mind for this at the time I read it, I'm not sure, but I can say I enjoyed this book as much as the first volume, and much more than the previous 3. This volume was full of fascinating facts about skylarks, and the poetry this time around was more interesting. On the whole, Lewis-Stempel seemed less reliant on copy-and-paste, and more in tuned with his subject, in a similar way to my experience when reading the volume on owls. I especially enjoyed reading about the effect that skylarks had on soldiers in no-man's-land during the war, and the response of war poets. I enjoyed this little book, and am committed to reading another if Lewis-Stempel continues this series.

[Stephen Dunstan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

I had read The Secret Life Of The Owl on a train journey and had brought this along one for the journey back the following day. I thought this was a little better than the owl book as there was less regurgitation of facts, and the section about the Skylarks on the battlefields was interesting.

As others have said though it's still pretty thin on content, devotes far too much space to verbatim reproduction of other authors' work and includes some rather pointless lists (e.g. of Skylark poems).

[Grace-Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not one of the author's better books. The Soaring Life of the Lark was part poetry anthology part series of list 0f lark-connected info. My favourite chapter would have to be The Skylarks of the Western Front which I felt conveyed a real sense of the brutality of war and the delight soldiers must have found in the beauty of the song of the lark.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lewis-Stempel lays out his knowledge and insight into the Skylark, emphasising it’s importance in both nature and history whilst weaving in accounts of the inspiration that these little birds gave to the soldiers during World War One and the current necessity to protect and re-wild British land for their prosperity.

[Jeremy Butterfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very slim volume at under 100 pages, though it is beautifully produced, which it would have to be to justify the price of £9.99. That said, it does give you a lot of information about the (sky)lark and reproduces several poems, none of which I knew. It was useful for my research, but probably one it's best to ask your library for, not to buy.

[Chelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love nature writing and I love the weaving together of nature and history and literature and more but while the chapter about skylarks and soldiers on the Western Front was excellent it felt like a lot of this book was about cooking and eating skylarks and caging them and stabbing out their eyes and I personally struggle with that.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly quick an enjoyable book about skylarks. Full of facts and information and with the author’s incredible prose, this was read in one sitting and is full of imagery. Perhaps 5 stars could be seen as generous given the size of the book, but birds hold a special place in my heart, so maybe you could say there is some rose tinted glasses around. But fully enjoyable nonetheless.

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book in celebration of the iconic Lark but reminding us of the threat to it's survival.
The author directs us to literature, music, poetry, sayings and symbolic references of the past as well as heralding the bird as inspirational.
A powerful quick read.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just beautiful; a mixture of natural history, poetry, and a call for conservation. I learned so much from this book and my heart expanded. The writing about skylarks accompanying soldiers in the trenches is particularly moving. Highly recommended.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both joyful and sorrowful, why do we treat nature with such distain! A beautiful thoughtful book!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little book about the life of the Lark

[Clive Bevitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as engaging as the other books in the series.