Bevis: The Story of a Boy was written by Richard Jefferies in 1882
Jefferies portrayed the rapidly changing rural life at the start of the great agricultural depression of the late 19th century. He had an affection for the traditional practices and customs of the communities he knew but wrote without sentimentality and saw that ‘the new’ could often exist harmoniously alongside ‘the old’. His books contain many fine and vivid sketches of the countryside and show a remarkably keen eye for observing the activities of living creatures and the subtle workings of nature.
‘The sun was stronger than science; the hills more than philosophy.’