The lie of the land: an under-the-field guide to the british isles by Ian Vince. Boxtree, London, 2010. No. of pages: xiv + 287. Price: UK£14-99. ISBN 978-0-7522-2711-5 (hardback).
✍ Scribed by Stephen K. Donovan
- Book ID
- 102224929
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 43 KB
- Volume
- 47
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0072-1050
- DOI
- 10.1002/gj.1338
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Some books have titles that scare off potential readers by indicating who the author thinks should read it (Donovan, 2010, p. 495). Ian Vince is rather more cagey-I bought The Lie of the Land and only then discovered that it '. . . is not meant for the amusement or edification of geologists . . . If you are a [geologist], you should put this book down and read something else' (p. x). Sorry, but no. Once I've bought a book that looks worthy of review, I do read it at least, even if the critique gets deferred. In this case, the book was too much fun not to review.
Essentially, this book is intended for anyone who is fascinated by the landscape of (mainly) mainland Britain, but lacks a specialist knowledge. Yet scaring off a large subgroup of the potential readership, namely geologists, seems a little rash to me. A book on geology written by a 'non-geologist' also has a certain appeal. Ian Vince may not have a training in Earth sciences, but he is an enthusiast, and conveys the broad prehistory of Britain (and before) with a touch that is light, informative and whimsical.
The structure of the book is slightly eccentric, but has a certain logic. Vince starts in the Precambrian, mainly of north-west Scotland, which leads into a discussion of geological time. He then jumps to the Holocene and traces the evolution of the British Isles backwards from there to the Precambrian (again), adding a final flourish as he summarises the origin of the Solar System and the Earth's early evolution. The style is highly readable. There is a short list of further reading, a glossary, but no index. Illustrations are mainly limited to schematic outcrop maps of the relevant stratigraphic division at the start of each chapter. There are apparently photographs on an associated website, but there should be a selection, at least, in the book for those of us who enjoy the simple pleasure of reading without turning it into a multimedia extravaganza.