By following the changes in one house over centuries the development of farm life in England is depicted.
Goodall provides a rich historical panorama of the English farm, beginning with the swineherds and wattle huts of the Middle Ages and ending with the modern mechanized farm and a farmhouse bed-and-breakfast. Along the way are entrancing views of many aspects of farm life: the architecture, work and seasonal celebrations as they have evolved over the centuries. Goodall once again shows his remarkable flair for rendering the spirit of a place and era in a single spread. His watercolors capture both particular details and larger impressions, and finely convey a sense of time's inexorable passage. In addition, he makes ingenious use of half-page flaps to portray two faces of a single scene: a harvest dinner becomes a rousing barn dance; haymaking gives way to a midday break in the fields; a milling group of hounds is next shown running with the hunt. As with Goodall's previous works, readers will come away from this book feeling amply enlightened and rewarded.