W.H. Hudson (1841−1922) should need no
introduction to Richard Jefferies' followers. Hudson was born in Argentina
and spent his boyhood and youth on the pampas of La Plata, largely engaged in
natural history. He came to England aged thirty-two. His books such as Green Mansions and A Shepherd’s Life have become classics, whilst Hudson has been
widely acknowledged as a pioneer ecologist, as well as a prose-poet of the
English landscape and its wildlife.
Brian Morris, a Richard Jefferies Society member, has written a new biography of Hudson titled An Ecological Vision of Earth: The Life and Thought of W.H. Hudson (Norfolk: Reuben Books, 2026). Jefferies’ name crops up more than one hundred times in the book that includes a section on both writers. The crossovers with Jefferies’ writing, thoughts and life are many.
An Ecological Vision of Earth is both readable and scholarly and offers an introduction to this remarkable naturalist. It can be purchased via Paypal at Reuben Books (UK postage only).
ISBN: 978-1-9993172-8-7, 276pp., softback, £17 (incl UK postage).
