The Cottage Book: The Undiscovered Country Diary of an Edwardian Statesman

by Edward Grey, Michael Waterhouse (Editor)

The great Edwardian statesman Sir Edward Grey was a passionate naturalist, and co-founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Between 1895 and 1905 he made detailed nature notes at his cottage by a trout stream near Itchen Abbas in Hampshire. The text of his "Cottage Book" forms the basis for this beautiful book, alongside dozens of specially commissioned watercolours, contemporary photographs and woodcuts, and maps.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG, PC, FZL, DL, better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman who served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916.

Reviews

[KeenReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially a diary written by a politician and his wife. They were keen birdwatchers and they wrote about the wildlife (but mainly the birds) that surrounded their weekend cottage in the summer around the turn of the century.
I have no idea why I picked this up at my local library, it's not my usual type of book at all, but I found it charming, in a bitter-sweet way. I don't know much about birds but they were writing casually about seeing kingfishers and other birds that are really rare now. I was quite sad when they mentioned seeing 5 kingfishers in just one afternoon. I'll be lucky to see that many in my entire lifetime.
At first it just seemed a list of birds that they'd seen and heard but as I progressed through the book their deep love of nature and of the countryside around their cottage soon became obvious, which I think is what drew me back to read more.

[Willow Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its hard to review a book about a time at a cottage, that in some ways was never meant to be read beyond a small circle of close friends; and yet this glimpse into cottage life by Sir Edward Grey; a politician now mostly forgotten with the passage of time.
The book is sweet detailing the local area - what really stood out was the love of nature by both Edward Grey and his wife. I actually learnt a fair bit - which surprised me. The changes in temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius; and the changes to ecology within the Winchester area.
Overall, a fascinating glimpse into a politician who I knew very little about.