THE GENEROUS EARTH Philip Oyler 1 873429 66 5 £12.99 192 pp plus 16 pp illustrations pbk with flaps 140 by 215 mm portrait Published in association with Ostara Publishing This great classic of peasant life was first published in 1950. Philip Oyler, farmer and traveller, moved to the Dordogne after the First World War. There he found a region completely unexploited by commerce or tourism, and he soon immersed himself in a way of life that had hardly changed for centuries. His description of rural values rooted in tradition and the love of a countryside where the balance of nature had not been disturbed, is even more timely today than when it was written, and the verve and thrill of his prose are as fresh as a May morning. Anyone interested in travel, in France, in farming, good food. good wine, and sheer good living will enjoy this book. Philip Oyler (1879-1972) spent his life on the land. He was born on a Kentish farm into a family that had farmed for centuries. Later he worked as a farm labourer, a tenant, an owner and managed estates in England and France. Oyler's philosophy of the farming life led to him becoming a founder member of the Soil Association.