"Published in the midst of high-stakes negotiations between farmers’ organisations and the Welsh Government on land use and livelihoods – and in the context of a Europe-wide rumbling rural rebellion – Carwyn Graves’ new book is more than a history of the Welsh landscape. It is an important contribution to contemporary politics and our understanding of what Welsh culture is."

the welsh agenda

"Into this dismal world, Carwyn’s book Tir enters like a breath of fresh air. I can’t even begin to convey the riches of the book or the astonishing amount of complexity Carwyn somehow manages to cram into its few pages – perhaps I’ll write a lengthier appreciation another time – but the book is an invitation into a different way of seeing. Not an overgeneralized screed about the evils of farming or human impacts worldwide, but a close look at the intertwined culture history and landscape history of a place, or in fact a set of places, enabling a long and local view of how their human and more-than-human ecologies have played out in the past, and may play out in the future."

resilience

"As he maps out some of the distinctive features that make up the landscape of Wales Carwyn Graves shows us how this tapestry of features and habitats is a living place, and a place where people make a living. In a chaotic, challenging time for farming and wildlife his is a steady voice, his secateurs of measured prose cutting through thickets of babble to show us how a future Wales can sustain people and increase wildlife.

Much like his books about apples or Welsh food Graves again proves to be a diligent researcher and engagingly clear writer, offering us a book shot through with historical facts and bright vignettes of modern living. From goose grazing to peat harvesting, from agroforestry to the myriad wonders of hay meadows, this is an engaging book of exploration, examination and, ultimately, of illumination."

Jon Gower