“The Lie of the Land”

Talking of praise, the National Trust and Hay Festival have announced their top "Outdoors Books of the Year" and we're very pleased and excited to tell you that the book - which we often casually refer to as the unofficial manual of the BLC - has emerged as one of the winners.

The endorsement, the result of a month-long poll to find the best recent writing about nature and the outdoors is shared with The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley, The Garden in the Clouds by Antony Woodward, Weeds by Richard Mabey and a number of other lovely books written from unique perspectives on the countryside. Hundreds of votes were cast and the winners were revealed at the Hay Festival - Britain's most famous literary festival.

Finally, voting has commenced in the People’s Book Prize where The Lie of the Land is a finalist. If you have already registered, voting is utterly painless - if not, then you’ll have to register first - but please do vote. You may pick one book in each category - Fiction, Non-Fiction and Children’s. The Lie of the Land is (obviously) in the non-fiction camp, although there is one diversion from truth (unfortunately, it is repeated) which is the result of an editorial error caused by an authorial one. Click here to be taken to the People’s Book Prize finalists vote.