The Crooked Scythe - George Ewart Evans

Edited and illustrations by David Gentleman 

George Ewart Evans was one of the pioneers of oral history. This anthology is drawn from his writings about the memories of men and women of a past era - farm labourers, shepherds, horsemen, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, sailors, fisherman, miners, maltsters, domestic servants and many others. Ewart Evans gathered this unique testimony in rural East Anglia in the 1950s, just as mechanisation was taking over every aspect of life, preserving a wealth of human history and language in this fascinating and often moving collection.

Reviews: 

'The essence of this oral history [is] the art and mysteries of ploughing shepherding, the forge, the domestic service, fishing in the North Sea... His books often escape into another world altogether' - Sunday Times

'A monument to a great and pioneering man... It is right that the past should be heard of in the words of those who lived it' - Daily Telegraph

'A pleasure to look at and a delight to read... A treasury of country folklore' - Daily Telegraph

Publishers: Faber & Faber

ISBN: 9780571340804

Pages: 224

Weight: 190g

Dimensions: 192 x 117 x 15 mm