Author Description

This Cultural History Of Early Twentieth-century Britain Shows How The Sounds And Rhythms Of The Natural World Were Listened To, Interpreted And Used Amid The Pressures Of Modern Life. The Book Argues That Despite And Sometimes Because Of The Chaos Of Wartime And The Struggle To Recover, Nature's Voices Were Drawn Close To Provide Everyday Security, Sustenance And A Sense Of The Future. Nature's Sonic Presences Were Not Obliterated By The Noise Of War, The Advent Of Radio Broadcasting And The Rush Of The Everyday, Rather They Came To Complement And Provide Alternatives To Modern Modes Of Living. This Book Examines How Trench Warfare Demanded The Creation Of New Listening Cultures In Order To Understand Danger And To Imagine Survival. It Tells Of The Therapeutic Communities Who Used Quiet And Rural Rhythms To Restore Shell-shocked Soldiers, And Of Ramblers Who Sought To Immerse Themselves In The Sensualities Of The Outdoors. It Shows How Home Front Listening In The Blitz Was Punctuated By Birdsong, Broadcast By The Bbc. In Focusing On The Sensing Of Sounds And Rhythms, This Study Demonstrates How Nature Retained Its Emotional Potency As The Pace And Unpredictabilities Of Life Seemed To Increase And New Man-made Sounds And Sonic Media Appeared All Around. To Listen To Nature, In Relation To The Changing Soundscape Of The Modernising World, Was To Cultivate An Intimate Connection With Its Vibrations And To Sense An Enduring Order And Beauty That Could Be Part Of The Future--