Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    After London - Or, Wild England
    After London - Or, Wild England
    After London - Or, Wild England
    Ebook291 pages4 hours

    After London - Or, Wild England

    By Richard Jefferies

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This antiquarian volume comprises Richard Jefferies' early example of post-apocalyptic fiction, 'After London'. After an unspecified disaster depopulates England, a small number of survivors are forced to live in a quasi-medieval fashion in a landscape almost entirely reclaimed by nature. Jefferies' unparalleled skill as a nature writer is obvious in this uncannily prophetic portrayal of a post-apocalyptic England that has been hailed as the most beautiful of all Victorian novels. This text will appeal to those with an interest in early speculative fiction, and it is a veritable must-read for fans and collectors of Jefferies' wonderful literature. We are republishing this vintage book now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateApr 18, 2013
    ISBN9781447498704

    Read more from Richard Jefferies

    Related to After London - Or, Wild England

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      BORDER Control

      Mar 12, 2020

      BORDER Control
      6 min read

    • Article

      Fox In The Frost

      Dec 17, 2020

      Fox In The Frost
      5 min read

    • Article

      Life On The Hedge

      Aug 20, 2020

      Life On The Hedge
      3 min read

    • Article

      Here’s Rooking At You

      Feb 28, 2024

      Here’s Rooking At You
      5 min read

    • Article

      Brownfield Site biodiversity

      Jan 30, 2024

      Brownfield Site biodiversity
      3 min read

    • Article

      Nicola Chester

      Sep 22, 2022

      Nicola Chester
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters from Hillside

      May 13, 2020

      Letters from Hillside
      5 min read

    • Article

      Life Behind Barbs

      Jul 22, 2020

      Life Behind Barbs
      4 min read

    • Article

      The perfect 10

      Jul 12, 2023

      The perfect 10
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Tree Of Life Fights On

      Jan 29, 2020

      The Tree Of Life Fights On
      7 min read

    • Article

      Playing The Wild Card

      Aug 26, 2021

      NEAR FUKUSHIMA, TEN YEARS AFTER the nuclear accident that followed the tsunami, wild boar have colonised the suburbs. Near Chernobyl, bison and wolves wander abandoned streets. There is no doubt that if humans vanished, indigenous wildlife would retu

      4 min read

    • Article

      Changing With The SEASONS

      Dec 17, 2020

      Changing With The SEASONS
      6 min read

    • Article

      King Of The Meadows

      Apr 8, 2021

      King Of The Meadows
      3 min read

    • Article

      Wild Month

      Sep 23, 2021

      Wild Month
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Best Tonic There Is

      Oct 7, 2020

      The Best Tonic There Is
      4 min read

    • Article

      Fawn Rising

      Apr 7, 2022

      Fawn Rising
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Great British Safari

      Jun 9, 2021

      The Great British Safari
      12 min read

    • Article

      Something To Crow About

      Mar 30, 2022

      Something To Crow About
      6 min read

    • Article

      Jewels Of The Downs

      Jul 19, 2023

      Jewels Of The Downs
      6 min read

    • Article

      Rainforests On Our Doorstep

      Apr 6, 2023

      Rainforests On Our Doorstep
      6 min read

    • Article

      Rainforests On Our Doorstep

      Apr 6, 2023

      Rainforests On Our Doorstep
      6 min read

    • Article

      Fall & Rise

      Oct 7, 2020

      Fall & Rise
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters from Hillside

      Sep 16, 2020

      Letters from Hillside
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Boxer

      Feb 9, 2023

      The Boxer
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Lost wolf

      Mar 7, 2024

      The Lost wolf
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for After London - Or, Wild England

    3.5/5

    8 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      note I haven't finished the medievalist narrative of Part II, but I imagine it'd be wonderful to teach. Part I, Victorian lit of collapse, nature writing, and the imagining of a return of a nasty feudal society: would teach beautifully. Basically 'After Man' but done in 1880s.
    • 3/5
      After London is made up of two distinct parts. First is "The Relapse into Barbarism", which describes the decline of civilization, but more importantly the recovery of nature, after an unspecified disaster. This section draws heavily on Jefferies background as a nature writer, and is essentially a detailed thought experiment on what would happen to the English countryside without many men around. For a potentially dry topic, it is surprisingly readable - largely because Jefferies describes the reaction of each aspect or species plausibly, then moves on without bogging down in details. Normally, this kind of material would exist mainly as backdrop for the characters. Here, one gets the feeling that the second half of the book was written mainly as an excuse for this imagination of the environment.

      The second part of the book "Wild England", is a more standard adventure story about a sullen and disaffected young noble and his search for a place in the world (one that will impress his beloved). The story is simple, and still relies heavily on descriptions of the environment as the hero travels around. But it is again well thought through, and the hero's emotions are as plausible and realistic as the scenery around him.

      The book is a pleasant read, if not exciting. I would have considered giving it a higher mark, but for the fact that the story effectively stops mid-stream. We can imagine what happens next; it's not essential that we're told. But because there's no gradual letdown, it feels very abrupt - enough so that on reading an e-copy a couple of decades after the print version, I went looking on the internet to see whether I had somehow been shortchanged.

      So, a fun, interesting read, but a little disappointing at the end.
    • 2/5
      Jefferies' descriptions of what Britain would be like without its population to maintain the roads and fields started out as quite interesting, but the book became tedious quite quickly and the adventures of the pouty and disgruntled young noble Felix didn't liven it up at all. Overall, it's probably worth a mention as an early post-Apocalyptic novel, but I couldn't recommend it as something to read for entertainment.
    • 4/5
      After watching the original version of the BBC series Survivors, I decided to read this, one of the first post-apocalypse novels.To be sure there were earlier stories that killed off most or all of humanity including Mary Shelley's "The Last Man" (1826) and Edgar Poe's "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" (1839), but Jefferies may have been the first to create and describe new social orders in the world after the apocalypse. Here, England befalls some unknown disaster which empties London and creates a vast lake in the center of the country.The first five chapters of the book are Jefferies' future historian narrating how the ecosystem of England has changed, and there is no mention of the hero of the rest of the novel: Sir Felix Aquila. And they stand at the beginning of a line of speculation about the decay of the world after humanity that continues through the Histoy Channel's show Life After People.As for Felix, he's the usual impoverished aristocrat who wants to impress the daughter of richer aristocrats, and he leaves home seeking fame and fortune. His story ends rather abruptly and, frankly, it's not that interesting. You can get a nice sense of the book's strengths by reading the first five chapters and chapters 23 and 24.The ecologically centered post-apocalypse tale wasn't to achieve these heights again until George R. Stewart's Earth Abides.
    • 4/5
      This novels portrays a well drawn and quite eerie depiction of a London and an England after some devastating apocalypse has transformed the landscape and driven away or killed most of the population, leaving survivors to set up small warring feudal communities or function as wandering bands of brigands or gypsies. The nature of the disaster is never made clear and no obvious single solution presents itself. The storyline against this backdrop concerns one man's struggle to find peace of mind in his place in this society, but was a little banal in places. Worth looking for, though (this was a Kindle edition).
    • 3/5
      This book was of interest to me because I read and collect post-apocalypse fiction. The first part of the book is a study of what has happened in nature as a result of the fall of mankind, and while some of it is interesting, it quickly becomes monotonous hearing about the three kinds of wild dogs, the three kinds of wild cats, the three kinds of wild pigs. The second part of the book, detailing the adventures of a young noble in what is left of civilization, has only the slightest connection to this setup--aside from a a few references to the ancients and a brief visit to what is left of London, it could be taking place in medieval England. Still it held my interest. My most serious criticism is that story reaches a certain point and simply stops there, for no reason I could see, with no resolution, nothing much learned, it doesn't even point towards anything. It's as if the author set it aside intending to pick it up later and never got around to it.
    • 3/5
      It's really interesting comparing this to modern post-apocalyptic literature, particularly in the depiction of the post-apocalyptic world and in the things it things it concerns itself with. It's idyllic in a way, an England returned to its natural state—for the most part there is nothing to 'clean up' where in most of what I consider to be post-apocalyptic literature the world itself is destroyed and the survivors are shown dealing with that. This book concerns itself largely with the loss of knowledge, particularly as it concerns politics and warfare, alongside the little things, like fifty years without tea.

      The darkest part was also my favourite: the journey into the heart of ravaged London, still toxic and completely unrecognisable. I liked the book (aside from the inevitable sexism and other prejudices of the time) and there were some particularly lovely insights and descriptions, but it would have been more to my taste if there had been more of that.
    • 3/5
      Loved the story, which felt like a medieval fantasy at times, though it's set post-apocalypse of some kind. It's one of the "England is the cheese that stands alone" kind of stories. The upper class just leaves the country, leaving the less educated (in sciences and things) and those who can't afford to emigrate. Jefferies doesn't try to explain why. There is some weird narrator separation from the story, which takes place some hundred years after everybody cleared out and some undefined amount of time before the story is written. The protagonist is some historical character of note—though, again, Jefferies doesn't really go into it. I'm kind of a sucker for a) wilderness post-apocalyptic themes and 2) stories where a lot is left to hang, expository-wise ("Scanners Live in Vain" as an example).The end felt overly abrupt, though. Of the books I've read this month, bits of it have stuck the most (besides Borges, but I adore his work so much it doesn't factor in). This promises to be a book and idea that snuggles perfectly amidst the scraps of sf ideas and notions that have shacked up in my brain. I wonder if it'd have the same impression on someone from a totally different geographic locale.

    Book preview

    After London - Or, Wild England - Richard Jefferies

    1^book_preview_excerpt.html\ˮGZvE/eX-,UI2}AgVW{%D䃼-dUeĉw_ucwO߿/ϟ?ӛ>ŵX/?~>~{oON_?wUo?kzwe]rn=?cV|%?nҲ̝;>8FXqŧuGrKHa?7Uٻwz½lIya>?/ kGƑW6֍8q,M7d *΢i5`?b@Dg\4&krA~-ǪÄerg^t$*{Hge bQ~l0&(Yoelrwq^ R#8x y}^k`S bd =e*aq俭َqs\XݼZOqn)y5k\b9JEU ?b͌P O)RvkXVhB;*aA,웿e9.Ja Kcܺʲ'(,O_'1vQJ͊ٗ,6 ;_47?dDj*/E[g%' qޒĮUa"z)%ehDlI@*=C a Qn?9Ȋ5p6bM I^>"]Iݯdrw : %^]gY##_LFڒq#VQYweYUZOjUź$$^1h8k0ft˦){\ ܍r hb.[~FO>L-jDOT%"$9UI‹ag[؊M]Cͅca- K|`D Jc/tCx']=W$VMӀIKTEF0UE_X'HOQR 3nZqd#mDI, T/m͗;{#׏ӓ,L a'rg+*yt/8\|g78Mg[~>TlU]p(L@C4iok1"kDNK*߹au }KgkxuFڀ"k&]Nv10>3vt< <Mjk˷@ _{Kw<;8 pCfAB`_CE JZY ?d-2y9$0k ܪn-vu9zx9#>(,m*,iIU#% Q.h'*H`8n)$ 'd"hûg} *MH r -7Jj>9Jֿ#u LH3 z@heq|ZyMɁI 倶Y*dR *diBj{I ]D$L0'-cz*{}ZJT˞9^V'UT}aPm9b#x**dJ e+?E:@/Ǡrrv UlP(`w'wKMՓč‫2&.V?IPxd߁'ƽRL&Np%{D$V1ͮWGKYF # ,蚇^v#T2N>*7* g|keH+~ oB 0Bnj뗘ˋRx^P1\Zt\++ r{ghgG`S^%pľV(,VDXk# A'?tdZ"1Ty'1ƽ`opidCʝ)Gb;4IUt`kI)-ȇa9R"۾1-%x5fGhۺJAl%ؗ yu FT*R Tһ ^~yCG~)H)4jJc4)x\Ri&wT\b$AiNR\eX>\SNZqMUnJ?dK)0zٵ&P4dHT춐ʹ/SRݹ 8!KK&m+՟"V߳ضDӃ,mpWrQ |\(`"=iG۫/Rr,lr#H.vL.ٳMu{D]'m;^BX ,Hd m\{?ʎT D nO;ߓN8j(+Db3>q6҂y&IQ2&lI ;1`W-;$In(X˫0Qd`Fq5W.IlQa QK?맧;фq w[1!XaP J}_(('Qo7UB c?d#kWg46JF!/jX%f#j.|MlO"#;ޚªoٻvf`"W*"aԞ7ܟHD:YGnPpB{W>:i$Y!dY!b?=d5JdEQg4E1H*OwذZh#=?n֜6O&0!c|v1l l*C܁7nՊ^%8cNPh)i-i^έ0ZL<4^iԊGhoU%i겈 ZN&iqAi ˮT&T_==,#ĤDW;%m:8î!Q5p9D2Lڃ>qhzϾZ ͈%~Ginu ÎNgHY.ʮ"a%'&E1 0!q tcĴgjH c/BUҜ6V;dJp@eloϬ»Gd?<&cG6tەL&!<(f IQ vGi*#쿝Xa4OdeMiqW:FjJ8]R Ąn|XݩKʆ!DC|F<5Ֆ=ce(MV[ 9ĎhT YjNN[O4q-)1hxnju_ E۔#gh(m^Z3eޱ:utFD/nPEY8&1:ƚ> kQmx(=.1ֳjH:`7rp'p$QB@bVz !o|KPLijKɋ%0W 牚JhvdY/؆MUR?ۼa.:'[prmy,p`M% Lh!ɶ&D*<:Rkeje%HvjIbQ\[ƙx8,R2HAޱ%T8try5xnG[$2邏3=*# J=J 4|*;(K;{˷ir`f8a%V oxk*2CBen0p>-aW 8]ܸ9>eqd%z+0u{7/sAjgz6|SЮn\7W%<aY"د7Y\14ʴ&$?ǀ^0eCwe~qWi2wmR80blZC|\rs0?нw?VF~}<WQL@a6qHu0Zh$ϲ!E$-7 C}omBCzÃ:3Jd?Odg^76pdg \w,(WJ@``{4'AT!a+gK&,iHLoMo;dZx;YK|ٔR|8 ^y)f\Ы#Sq"!YڥO /EKP*tt_p1!r@G{Y 0kș$v8ͼcsyH3%aFT )3VlMTZ֠ fOf=@!ubOd$qM/=L Sӏ~W"unޖ f7xB$6~ ,z[J"h5.SSv۬?3ge9G!#c*T~CJFv(u_ٝ JH})qD[ta]ivl?f ;> ӵ-k88{D9شIGk)_I(5z,ŹԠ'O~uxl:/h}ޏZhGgM;_*FfXuY(w),k_Bs0}I X5flpyiPzh]pN_KWH@2~~fb&&cTSu>gN I]&K|CR?OOW7;؄S#_;ugv/!cluӮXN \'u6=y k^.ISkMo犇\2\bAlz6!A΂&tj}~Ufaoк3 50Ok3=.Nvz*ٜ[_>DlwZN}A>$<7y})sg~ ϕ5>\pߦf>W_cmjlܹ}T_?[p>1l|:EL jtBWJ2NM~X^jf}~j%8-W(| 0o:G>55U ~n4rlu)X†g2c+/G܎bٜbftu$=mSN a@lTkR*VF/=:]EOKabt~'Atಪ%HQ)[fDaLx8{qBXSܰ,.)-8u0:!ԂDC^>R:wG`a|E]9넔 N t F9ܮk[-8=.-a5'{N_ç| 7F>ΈRBF#BzVR%ojSD]1p wn>Ӄ8m{vsoVBEi@м˓ Ȫ: aHx*v>WRTY(+U3 [/y8N g_ʩEU}͎+U-v~!>>}Jr,.pv{zcV^Sڛ8N܀S{=ל_AbN7~y%Gf"9Tn0ao;ZZ"q-E=3's}=hSS ՚lBj编,HsC=`fY5Qd`TxJxTڊW˙Z/#YGo<7)%5ޗk1eKQXmƉ2B7<(7<*wY/0Qky=κ,!_ZnZ/TՖT_}HzSa(g7H\]4{I/&at˫G8!p0(8Feor9jd ]xl[ FP27A L6Ujܔj 2\!E4o5Ұ|O{l3=4l6^<. qDn&3juy]E+Bι]2nz]97s~#bQ[ڼB(Pp]3EqSW<-סF4Ze'YjVO(>K zˇ>^Fxua}hEVR\x9]z|}ѫ`4i=ܞKObOvܼB ZWUR8 ({]
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1