Buy new:
-20% £12.83
FREE delivery Sunday, 5 May
Dispatches from: Amazon
Sold by: Amazon
£12.83 with 20 percent savings
RRP: £15.99

The RRP is the suggested or recommended retail price of a product set by the manufacturer and provided by a manufacturer, supplier or seller.
Learn more
FREE Returns
FREE delivery Sunday, 5 May. Details
Or fastest delivery Tomorrow, 3 May. Order within 7 hrs 38 mins. Details
Only 10 left in stock (more on the way).
££12.83 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
££12.83
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Delivery cost, delivery date and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Dispatches from
Amazon
Dispatches from
Amazon
Sold by
Amazon
Sold by
Amazon
Returns
Returnable within 30 days of receipt
Returnable within 30 days of receipt
Item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund within 30 days of receipt
Read full Amazon return policy
Returns
Returnable within 30 days of receipt
Item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund within 30 days of receipt
Read full Amazon return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
£2.90
This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See more of our deals. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See more of our deals. See less
FREE delivery 8 - 13 May. Details
Only 4 left in stock.
££12.83 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
££12.83
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Delivery cost, delivery date and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Dispatched from and sold by awesome_books_001.
Added to

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Richard Benson
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Farm: The Story of One Family and the English Countryside Paperback – 19 Jan. 2006

by Richard Benson (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 202 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"£12.83","priceAmount":12.83,"currencySymbol":"£","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"83","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"0aOsYm74SMhKL31p%2B5KGac%2BNOTl4AWLP24LbcPgxbRVDu%2BSQ98RMTHyToUkhDvxuQwlXTMfAt7RLraAItxpojk1TSVBIoAWHfoADdYmaNIyDuOuCtJCBk%2Bm0iAZ6yvnp","locale":"en-GB","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"£2.90","priceAmount":2.90,"currencySymbol":"£","integerValue":"2","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"90","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"0aOsYm74SMhKL31p%2B5KGac%2BNOTl4AWLPeRs6wMHsA2RXDuhAxelmC9sBQ5dBVLlA0SXMSgeRcQQHd%2FKNeesr7EKK7fb5UKIHKxC8L5yocBWskFN6We9daRs2E9Cb33uCxGpKRjAz0E4YLE5Xr0JLFCVTI7fZ5CDXhch2RwT6VL9ZOvsesVHBig%3D%3D","locale":"en-GB","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

When Richard Benson was growing up he felt like 'the village idiot with O'levels' - glowing school reports aren't much help when you're trying to help a sow give birth, or drive a power harrow in a straight line without getting half the hedgerow stuck in the tines. He left Yorkshire to work as a journalist in London, but returned when his dad called with the news that they were going to have to sell the family farm, and, in so doing, leave the home and livelihood that the Bensons had worked for generations. This is not only a moving personal account, but also one that reflects a profound change in rural life.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin
  4. Publication date
    19 Jan. 2006
  5. Dimensions
    12.9 x 1.3 x 19.81 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0141012943
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0141012940
  8. See all details
Next page

Frequently bought together

The Farm: The Story of One Family and the English Countryside
£12.83
Only 10 left in stock (more on the way).
Sent from and sold by Amazon.
+
The Valley: A Hundred Years in the Life of a Yorkshire Family
£12.31
Only 4 left in stock (more on the way).
Sent from and sold by Amazon.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your basket.
Details
Added to Basket
One of these items is dispatched sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Product description

About the Author

Richard Benson is a former editor of The Face and has written for many newspapers and magazines in the UK. The Farm is his first book.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin; 1st Penguin Edition (19 Jan. 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141012943
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141012940
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 1.3 x 19.81 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 202 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Richard Benson

Richard Benson

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
202 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Susie
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent account of modern country life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 August 2016
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent account of modern country life and a refreshing change from the "rural idyl" account of farming. We nearly all buy our food from supermarkets and therefore indirectly support the global production of food. Richard Benson shows us the effects this has on farming and the countryside, plus the additional effects of the rising rural property market, forcing many people away from an area where they grew up. It is important that we all take an interest in how our food is produced, especially now as we are leaving Europe and its farming subsidies. Despite making his points about agriculture, the author makes this a very enjoyable read and I thoroughly recommend it to you.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
frances
4.0 out of 5 stars The Farm
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 January 2017
Verified Purchase
A good copy which arrived quickly. An interesting account of a family's life in farming.
Helpful
 Report
Sizzle
5.0 out of 5 stars A really special book that stays with you.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2006
Verified Purchase
A simple book, simply written yet this is a testament to a passing age & all that goes with it; loss of innocence, the relentless march of commercialism, dominance of faceless corporations.

You don't need to come from a farming or indeed rural background to appreciate the message within this book.

Richard Benson may not have had the mindset/skills to help out so much first hand on his parents' farm but his writing skills have ensured that the plight of this & other farms have not gone un-noticed.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Christine Davies
3.0 out of 5 stars Raw truths.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2015
Verified Purchase
A real life look at country living. Not a romantic happy ever after rose tinted spectacles book. I enjoyed it but it hits hard with the facts and figures. One to read if you think country life is a bed of roses. It is not, now more so than a few years ago.
Helpful
 Report
Diane Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars ... about his life with his family and I wasn't disappointed. I found this a heartwarming story of his ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2016
Verified Purchase
After reading The Valley Richard Bensons book about his extended family living in the Dearne Valley I was really looking forward to reading about his life with his family and I wasn't disappointed. I found this a heartwarming story of his life with his brother and parents on their farm and the trials and joy they faced. I would recommend reading The Valley first.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
walker
5.0 out of 5 stars A Country Boy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2012
Verified Purchase
This is the story of a boy born in the country, living on a farm in a village in the Yorkshire Wolds, he lives with his mother, father and brother, and we go through his happy childhood through to his desire to leave and become a journalist.
This he achieves and it is such a lovely story of a country boy turned journalist in London, easy comfortable reading.
Helpful
 Report
Mrs Randall
1.0 out of 5 stars unhappy with purchase!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 August 2015
Verified Purchase
The write up online gave no indication of the bad language content of this book and my feeling is that the description, cover and comments on the back of the book were quite deceiving I therefore would not have purchased this book as a gift for my grandaughter had I known the content I found when I received the book. Some indication of the language content would have been helpful and would have saved me wasting my money.
Maybe in future you could make mention if bad language is included in any of your books. I am much more cautious about purchasing now.
Mrs Randall
Helpful
 Report
J. stroud
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 April 2016
Verified Purchase
A bit boring. Delivery was good. 2nd book, the valley is better
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Shirley Teal
5.0 out of 5 stars There are many such stories-where cheap food and the McCains and Walmarts of the world have driven to extinction those wonderful
Reviewed in Canada on 13 December 2014
Verified Purchase
I had to wait for this book, but it was well worth it. British, written by the son of a farmer, it contains all that anyone who cares about where our food comes from, the loss of the family farm and respect for this way of life would expect. There are many such stories-where cheap food and the McCains and Walmarts of the world have driven to extinction those wonderful little mixed farms into poverty. This particular book is raw and deeply personal. It does not gloss over the acceptance of chemicals and their minions who promise the world and then leave lose of flora, flowers and insects in their wake. It talks of mixing chemicals in the kitchen sink and in hindsight realizing how wrong this was.

This book is at once riveting and painful and sad. It intensifies my journey to farmers markets to seek out growers and support where I can. Well worth the read
Report
Janice Ruth Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Home Place
Reviewed in the United States on 26 June 2014
Verified Purchase
A beautifully written, elegiac collection of essays about what it means to love and to leave a deeply imprinted way of life.

As a person who grew up on a Midwestern US farm, this book was especially touching in its description of an English family farm; the land, its inhabitants and the animals nurtured by them.

Richard Benson gets it right.
Report
Peggy McDonald
3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good. Not great though
Reviewed in Canada on 7 September 2015
Verified Purchase
Pretty good. Not great though.
Report
RBL
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written
Reviewed in the United States on 11 September 2014
Verified Purchase
Well written story of the current state of the small farmer.
Report