About the Author

Bill Laws is the author of ten books, including Common Losses: Essays and Interviews on Trees, Woods and the Green Man; Spade, Skirret and Parsnip: The Curious History of Vegetables; and Byways, Boots and Blisters: A History of Walkers and Walking. He has also edited a series of journals and books on rural history for the last 20 years, the latest publication, A Slap of the Hand, being a social history of a country cattle market.