Winner of the 2017 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize for nature writing
The natural history of the Western Front during the First World War
‘If it weren’t for the birds, what a hell it would be.’
During the Great War, soldiers lived inside the ground, closer to nature than many humans had lived for centuries. Animals provided comfort and interest to fill the blank hours in the trenches – bird-watching, for instance, was probably the single most popular hobby among officers. Soldiers went fishing in flooded shell holes, shot hares in no-man’s land for the pot, and planted gardens in their trenches and billets. Nature was also sometimes a curse – rats, spiders and lice abounded, and disease could be biblical.
But above all, nature healed, and, despite the bullets and blood, it inspired men to endure. Where Poppies Blow is the unique story of how nature gave the British soldiers of the Great War a reason to fight, and the will to go on.
The natural history of the Western Front during the First World War
‘If it weren’t for the birds, what a hell it would be.’
During the Great War, soldiers lived inside the ground, closer to nature than many humans had lived for centuries. Animals provided comfort and interest to fill the blank hours in the trenches – bird-watching, for instance, was probably the single most popular hobby among officers. Soldiers went fishing in flooded shell holes, shot hares in no-man’s land for the pot, and planted gardens in their trenches and billets. Nature was also sometimes a curse – rats, spiders and lice abounded, and disease could be biblical.
But above all, nature healed, and, despite the bullets and blood, it inspired men to endure. Where Poppies Blow is the unique story of how nature gave the British soldiers of the Great War a reason to fight, and the will to go on.
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Reviews
'Wonderful, beautifully written and often deeply moving'
'What makes Where Poppies Blow so freshly moving is the picture it paints of the reverence, love and kindness the natural world can engender, even in the most hellish conditions; as Philip Gosse of the Royal Army Medical Corps called it, "medicine for the mind and solace for the soul"'
'Makes an important contribution to the literature by studying the British soldiers' relationship with Nature . . . Moving, strangely life-affirming'
'From traumatized, trench-bound British soldiers caught up in the carnage of the First World War, birdwatching and botany offered solace. So reveals John Lewis-Stempel in this riveting study drawing on verse, letters and field notes by men who served, from zoologist Dene Fry to poet Edward Thomas . . . A remarkable picture of a human bloodbath that took place amid phenomenally rich biodiversity'
Ultimately, the depth and power of Where Poppies Blow is impossible to convey. It eludes review, but it begs to be read.
'Manages what might have seemed impossible: to find a new perspective on the Great War'
'Nature writer and military historian John Lewis-Stempel has created a eulogy to the flora and fauna that helped men soldier on during the First World War . . . Where Poppies Blow is full of fascinating (sometimes heart-wrenching) information about the role of nature and animals in this brutal war'
'But natural history did not go into suspense while war was waged. Where Poppies Blow notes that many of the Edwardian boys who ended up on the Western Front still collected birds' eggs and butterflies'
'This charming book reminds us that flora and fauna weren't suspended by the First World War' - 5 stars
'Memorable'
'Deeply moving . . . I finished this book marvelling at nature's healing power'
'One of the best nature writers to have come along in many years, John Lewis-Stempel turns his attention here to the relationship between soldiers and nature on the Western Front during the First World War'
Shows how important birdwatching was to officers in particular, and how this in turn fed back into post-war ornithology. It's an enthralling, and often moving, read, that sets the study and enjoyment of wildlife in a much wider context.
Unmissable...John Lewis Stempel is both a working farmer and a prizewinnig author. In early July, i heard him speak on first world war soldiers and their love of flowers and animals. I went straight off and read his excellent book, Where Poppies Blow, and I defy you not to be moved by its chapters on flowers and dogs.
'In Where Poppies Blow, the nature writer, historian and farmer presents us with a beautiful and meticulous account of soldiers' relationship with nature . . . This book, which recounts the lives of our frontline soldiers from the ground up, is a truly wondrous and original work with an appeal far beyond military history'