Dartmoor : 27

Dartmoor explores the complex and fascinating history of one of southern England's greatest National Parks, of enormous interest to naturalists and tourists alike. Traditionally regarded as the loneliest wilderness in England, this vast moorland was once viewed with awe—a property of nature rather than of man. In 1951 it was designated as one of Britain's first National Parks, transforming it into one of our most important centres of recreation.

This moorland-covered island of granite rises in the midst of a rolling sea of red Devon farmland, offering abundant interest to naturalists and visitors. Geologists seek the true origin of valuable pockets of china clay and granite itself. Botanists investigate the relationship between present vegetation and relict fragments of native woodland which grow higher than any other woods in Britain. In the heart of Dartmoor, ponies roam and black-faced sheep graze in splendid isolation, while around the fringes, lively villages like Widdicombe add their own romantic appeal.

L. A. Harvey, a skilled and widely experienced naturalist and Professor in the University College of the South-west at Exeter, collaborated with the learned D. St Leger-Gordon to create a balanced and consistent book, full of new syntheses and original ideas. The ideal natural history book shows not only wild nature, but man's place in it—and by this token, and many others, Dartmoor is such a book.