Few have written more beautifully about the British countryside than Francis Kilvert. A country clergyman born in 1840, Kilvert spent much of his time visiting parishioners, walking the lanes and fields of Herefordshire and writing in his diary. Full of passionate delight in the natural world and the glory of the changing seasons, his diaries are as generous, spontaneous and vivacious as Kilvert himself. He is an irresistible companion. This new edition of William Plomer’s original selection contains new archival material as well as a fascinating introduction illuminating Kilvert’s world and the history of the diaries. ‘One of the best books in English’ Sunday Times 'Kilvert has touched and delighted (and mildly shocked) readers of his diaries ever since they were first published. New readers are in for a treat' Alan Bennett

Francis Kilvert was an country clergyman who lived from 1840 to 1879, and these are his diaries- gossipy, sweet-natured, generous, curious, and full of an abiding wonder and delight in the natural world and the beauties of the changing seasons. The worthy heir to Pepys and Dorothy Wordsworth, Kilvert is an irresistible companion.

In this autobiography, the author evokes his Edwardian childhood in his portrait of a vanished community as he tells how he and the other children of Salford struggled daily to survive the poverty that surrounded them.

Travel back in time and witness both everyday life and great moments in history in this fascinating compilation of diaries through the ages. Bringing together historical and literary diaries, artists' sketchbooks, explorers' journals, and scientists' notebooks, Remarkable Diaries provides an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of some of the most interesting people of the last two thousand years. Discover what it was like to build a pyramid, sail the seas with Magellan, travel into the heart of Africa, or serve on the Western Front. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces, and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories. Arranged chronologically, Remarkable Diaries takes you into the pages of the world's greatest diaries, notebooks, and letters, including those of Samuel Pepys, Henry-David Thoreau, the Goncourt brothers, Virginia Woolf, and Anne Frank. Stunning reproductions of the original notebooks and manuscripts are complemented by extracts and quotations, and illustrated features set the diaries in their cultural and historical context. Essential reading for everyone who is passionate about history and literature, Remarkable Diaries provides a fascinating insight into the everyday lives, thoughts, and feelings of men and women through the centuries.