"This thought-provoking must-read delves into the divide between country and town with kindness and determination."
A heartfelt, thoughtful, and insightful look at the urban and rural divide that exists in the UK. Divide - the relationship crisis between town and country was deservedly longlisted for the 2022 Wainwright Conservation Prize. Author Anna Jones is a journalist and broadcaster, she grew up on the Welsh Borders and comes from generations of rural workers, she left and by the time she was in her thirties had lived in three different cities. She is perfectly placed to explore the issues that need to be solved. She says: “To the outside world, England is a postage stamp with 56 million people squashed on top of it, but something in the bones of an English countryperson is wedded to an almost spiritual belief in our green and pleasant land. The religion of ruralism”. The different chapters focus on animals and food, home and work, politics, diversity, environment and community. Various topics are explored raising questions, and looking at barriers, problems, and potential change. She researches the divide and how it could be healed by talking to a diverse range of people, from conservation groups, to experts on rural development, to those living and working in the countryside. She is honest and fair, she is open to new ideas despite at times feeling split in two. I love how she writes, she doesn’t lecture, rather it felt as though she was chatting to me and sharing thoughts and feelings. The information flowed from the page and I soaked it up, eyes wide, and mind open. Divide is a hugely important book, at times provocative yet always considerate, it joins our LoveReading Star Books as a must-read.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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This book is a call to action. It warns that unless we learn to accept and respect our social, cultural and political differences as town and country people, we are never going to solve the chronic problems in our food system and environment.
As we stare down the barrel of climate change, only farmers - who manage two thirds of the UK's landscape - working together with conservation groups can create a healthier food system and bring back nature in diverse abundance. But this fledgling progress is hindered and hamstrung by simplistic debates that still stoke conflict between conservative rural communities and the liberal green movement.
Each chapter, from Family and Politics to Animal Welfare and the Environment, explores a different aspect of the urban/rural disconnect, weaving case studies and research with Anna's personal stories of growing up on a small, upland farm. There is a simple theme and a strong message running throughout the book - a plea to respect our differences, recognise each other's strengths and work together to heal the land.
Divide features in the following genres: Biographies & Autobiographies, Rural communities, Urban communities, Cultural studies: food and society, Sustainable agriculture, Memoirs, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Society and Social Sciences, Society and culture: general, Cultural and media studies, Cultural studies, Social groups, communities and identities, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes, Agriculture and farming, Book Club Recommendations, Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Popular Science, Science: general issues, Mathematics and Science
Divide is available in Paperback, Hardback
Divide was written by Anna Jones and published by Kyle Books an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group
Divide has 288 pages
£9.89
