Gordon Manley (1902–1980)

This fascinating book deals not just with the way the British climate has shaped the scenery, but how both affect the people. A quote from the chapter "Mountains and moorlands; the effect of altitude" will illustrate how the author binds it all together:
" . . a good drying wind in September is certainly welcomed by the upland farmer anxious to harvest his oats. But exposure to drying wind implies exposure to driving rain on another. On 20 September 1942 a field of oats . . . in Cumberland, was scarcely at any point other than green. At fourteen hundred feet above the sea, most of it was already beaten down by the rain and wind, and on that day an unforgettable sense of hopelessness was reinforced by the weather . . ."

Throughout, Manley backs up the hard science of meteorology with a wealth of human history and culture. The reader gains an extraordinary insight into what it is to be British, as well as a detailed understanding of one of the world's more complex weather patterns. There are copious maps and diagrams and many of the black and white photographs are masterpieces.… (meer)