I loved this book. I sat and read it in one go. A wonderful, and sometimes sad , biography. Absolutely fascinating from start to finish. I read it in conjunction with a brilliant book containing a collection of some ofJames Ravilious's fantastic photographs.

This is a beautifully written intensely personal account of the life of the artist and photographer James Ravilious, by his widow. James captured the essence of the countryside and people in a rural North Devon by devotedly pursuing his aim of chronicling all aspects of life there - from the delivering of a lamb to the crowning of a May Queen. The book tells of his early childhood in WW2 , the loss of both his parents and subsequent upbringing, and who and how people influenced him to enable his talent to flower. As with the text, Robin has chosen illustrations with utmost care ; we see early snaps of family life in the 40 s and 50 s, and in the pictures and photographs, not only his development as an artist, but also how his compositions echo his favourite medieval masters. The inclusion of his self critical remarks about his work are also enlightening and invariably funny. A triumph when seen against the backdrop of the difficulties he faced. Most of all I came away from reading this book full of admiration for both Robin and James, and wishing I had got to know this charming, practical, humourous, unworldly individual before his tragically young death .