I encourage anyone with a rural background or a longing for the rural life to read The Shepherd’s View by James Rebanks.  It’s actually a combination of reading and viewing the beautiful photographs of sheep and the Lake District in England where some families have been shepherds for centuries .  Rebanks explains the shepherd’s dialect, what judges and other farmers are looking for at sheep shows, the value of a good sheepdog, and all this he does with humor.  The people who live here are tough as nails and do not suffer fools gladly.  They have almost no use for “southerners” or those who dwell in big cities like London.  I thought it was funny that he says those in the area who have went south and “travelled on the Tube” consider it below the legal welfare standards for transporting sheep!  I could say the same about some flights. Not for anglophiles who are enthralled with the royal family or the “Downton Abbey” type England, this is a great book for those really interested in rural history and the common man.

Stacy W.