{"product_id":"swamp-songs-9781408884348","title":"Swamp Songs","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Bracingly original'' \u003c\/b\u003eKathryn Hughes, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e''A mixture of travelogue, local history and reportage, \u003ci\u003eSwamp Songs \u003c\/i\u003ebrims with evocative word sketches'' \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eFrom Romney Marsh to the Danube Delta, from Cyprus to the bayous of Louisiana and on to the Bay of Bengal, Tom Blass crosses swamps, marshes and wetlands to meet the people who have made these in-between worlds their homes.Here are true stories and myths of smugglers and runaway slaves, of fishermen, shepherds and salt-gatherers  and of tiger gods, flamingos and floods. A dazzling exploration of the precarious lives led where land and water tussle, Swamp Songs is a vital reappraisal and vibrant celebration of people and environments closely intertwined.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBracingly original ... Blass reveals himself to be more ethnologist than naturalist. While he pays respectful attention to the fauna that he encounters as he tacks from the Romney Marshes to Louisiana’s bayous by way of the Danube delta, it is the people he is after. -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eA mixture of travelogue, local history and reportage, \u003ci\u003eSwamp Songs \u003c\/i\u003ebrims with evocative word sketches -- Sara Hudston * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003eEnriching and magical, Tom Blass's writing is a pleasure to read. -- Donald S. Murray\u003cbr\u003eWhat a joy to roam with Tom Blass through some of nature’s most unjustly maligned and underappreciated habitats, where webs of life interconnect wildly and wondrously with human stories. \u003ci\u003eSwamp Songs\u003c\/i\u003e is a delicious blend of ecology and culture. -- Amy-Jane Beer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE NAKED SHORE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e: \u003c\/b\u003eA\u003cb\u003e wonderfully bracing\u003c\/b\u003e journey around the North Sea. His gaze misses nothing, and his robust prose \u003cb\u003eglitters with story and lore and surprise\u003c\/b\u003e -- Philip Marsden\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003ehugely enjoyable anti-tour\u003c\/b\u003e, and a \u003cb\u003ewonderful eulogy\u003c\/b\u003e to an implacable ocean * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003eTom Blass champions a \u003cb\u003esubtlety of vision\u003c\/b\u003e, a determination to discern the\u003cb\u003e marvellous\u003c\/b\u003e in the unprepossessing * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRemarkable\u003c\/b\u003e ... I was relieved to find that his work is not of the trendy Thoreau-esque school of travel writing, but more down to earth ... \u003cb\u003eTerrifically enjoyable\u003c\/b\u003e * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCaptivating … Rich, evocative prose\u003c\/b\u003e … Part travelogue, part history book and part anthropological study, Blass’s \u003cb\u003eintensely rewarding \u003c\/b\u003ememoir succeeds in scattering some light into the North Sea’s cold and murky depths, revealing both its wonders and its indivisible relationship with humanity * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eSo\u003cb\u003e extremely good \u003c\/b\u003ethat we hope it will bring a warmth and richness to your early spring reading. That said, you’ll probably want to dive into this\u003cb\u003e fabulous\u003c\/b\u003e account somewhere indoors rather than settling down on a blustery beach * Guardian *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408022413655,"sku":"9781408884348","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781408884348.jpg?v=1730501301","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/swamp-songs-9781408884348","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}