Writer of history and heritage Jane Dismore recommends some of her favourite reads. Her latest book, No Country For A Woman, is out now
Jane Dismore is a writer of history and heritage. Her new book, No Country For A Woman, is the first about the extraordinary life of Lady Dorothy Mills, a little-known explorer and writer from the famous Walpole family. Read on to find out some of her top literary picks…
The Lewis and Clark Journals by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1806)
The extraordinary, often moving record by the two men who were chosen by President Jefferson to lead a search for a river passage to the Pacific Ocean.
Edgelands by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts (2011)
A lyrical look at the unexpected beauty to be found in unlikely places from dismantled railways to drainage ditches and how nature finds a footing.
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South from Grenadam by Gerald Brenan (1957)
A superb depiction of deeply rural southern Spain before the Civil War by one who knew it well.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee (1969)
This captivating memoir begins in 1934 with the author walking from the Cotswolds to London to earn a living and leads to his travelling around Spain as the Civil War begins.
Mudlarking by Laura Maiklem (2018)
A must-read for anyone who has experienced the thrill (or hopes to) of unearthing an interesting object on the foreshore. Marklem’s research into the history of her finds brings them alive.
Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance by Daisy Hay (2015)
A fascinating study of the relationship between Benjamin Disraeli and his older wife, the widowed and wealthy Mary Anne, before and after his rise to Prime Minister.
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1977)
This trek across Europe in the 1930s is partly a coming-of-age memoir and also a rich portrait of a continent soon to be profoundly changed by war and modernisation.
