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A review by andrewspink
Britains Landmarks and Legends: The Fascinating Stories Embedded in Our Landscape by National Trust Books, Jo Woolf
informative
slow-paced
3.5
The book has a lot of interesting stories and facts about various British landscapes. The landscapes are not given equal weight; the Lake District is given as much attention as the whole of Scotland, for instance. Perhaps something to do with all the National Trust land in the Lakes? What is also strange is that the majority of the Scottish stories seem to be about Ireland, or at least have a strong Irish connection.
The book is clearly written so that each chapter can be read stand-alone. That is understandable, but it does lead to some repetition. For example, the story of Tristan and Isolde is told twice.
There were some things that I really liked about the book. The illustrations are really nice and definitely add another dimension. I appreciated the use of scientific names of plants (in addition to their English/Welsh names). The mentions of the specific old trees was also something that I liked. I have visited a lot of the places covered, which meant that reading the stories about them was more interesting. All the literary references definitely also added a worthwhile element to the book.
This review is based on a free copy of the book kindly provided by the publisher using the NetGalley platform, in return for an honest review.
The book is clearly written so that each chapter can be read stand-alone. That is understandable, but it does lead to some repetition. For example, the story of Tristan and Isolde is told twice.
There were some things that I really liked about the book. The illustrations are really nice and definitely add another dimension. I appreciated the use of scientific names of plants (in addition to their English/Welsh names). The mentions of the specific old trees was also something that I liked. I have visited a lot of the places covered, which meant that reading the stories about them was more interesting. All the literary references definitely also added a worthwhile element to the book.
This review is based on a free copy of the book kindly provided by the publisher using the NetGalley platform, in return for an honest review.