Beautiful book about the centuries old life of being a shepherd in the Lake District in the modern age. Beautifully observed and written. A fine companion to Aldo Léopold or Wendell Berry. Read it based on Nick Offermans section on Rebanks in Where the Deer and the Antelope Play.

There are no two ways about it. This is a book about Sheep. It is an honest, entertaining and detailed account of what it takes to be a sheep farmer in modern England. He unintentionally tells you about his take on leading proud life with ideals.

Read this book to find out - what do sheep do in different seasons. What sheep you sell vs breed. How do you trouble shoot various sheep issues.

I once travelled through Ireland. I saw sheep over the place, mostly with disdain. I considered it a vanishing way of life. I considered the folks there "could not adapt". This book slaps me in the face with facts and stories. I am convinced that farming is a choice of life people make with clear good intention because they love it.

I can now have a conversation with the next shepherd I meet at a bar - although It might be a little outside of SF.

Enough talk, great book, must read, keep an open mind. Time to go eat some lamb chops.

Loved it!

Enjoyed this despite the fact the narrative often meandered and it was occasionally confusing as to which season Rebanks was writing about.

This is a vivid and wonderful book. If you think sheep herding in the Lake District of England would be uninteresting, you would be wildly wrong. Rebanks paints an extraordinary picture of life in northern England living on a sheep farm. Rebanks gives us a "deep map" to use Least Heat-Moon's phrase that is a clear-eyed, realistic picture of a style of community farming that extends back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And he paints these down-to-earth endeavors without any sentimentality or metaphysical claptrap in sight. His love of place, family, animals, work, nature, and community shine through his words brilliantly. He takes us through the four seasons of his shepherd's year hopping between the present time and past events that now define him. Six stars. Highly recommended.

Absolutely riveting - a beautifully described guide to the seasons by shepherd James Rebanks. An outstanding voice that really does make you question the plasticity of modern life - a rich and gritty history of one man's family and the land that they've farmed for hundreds of years.