Sussex Writers in their Landscape
'Theirs was a pre-urban world in the glow of its last sunset, without a care or doubt, in which it seemed as if nothing could ever come to harm. Here was their version of that ideal world that has haunted the dreamer, rebel and pastoral poet for centuries.'
Between 1850 and 1939 such well-known writers as Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Woolf and Richard Jefferies came to Sussex, a county already home to the likes of Wilfrid Blunt, Hilaire Belloc and others. The result was an explosion of literary creativity which rejected modernity and the London scene, and instead developed writing imbued with a sense of nature and landscape.
In this, his last book, Peter Brandon (1927–2011) has drawn on his vast knowledge of the Sussex landscape to show how such writers, seeking a foil to London, were inspired by their surroundings and found peace and a tranquillity which existed in few other places.
The late Peter Brandon was a prolific author of books about Sussex, and a knowledgeable and inspirational speaker. He inspired many landscape geographers and historians, residents and visitors with his natural enthusiasm for his beloved Sussex countryside. He was vice-president of the Sussex branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and of the Sussex Archaeological Society, and president of the South Downs Society.
Brian Short has a BA and PhD from the University of London, FRGS. He is a Professor Emeritus (Geography) at the University of Sussex. He has been president of the Sussex Record Society since 2011 and is currently an editorial board member for the journal 'Landscape History' and Collins' internationally renowned 'New Naturalist' series.