When’s the last time you read a nearly 300 page book about being a shepherd in the Lake District of England and had a hard time putting it down?  Rebanks, born into a sheep herding family of many generations who had lived at the foot of the Fells and had multiple small properties writes in a straightforward, spare, and evocative style which he no doubt learned at Oxford after dropping out of school in the 9^th grade.  This is a fascinating personal story as well as a loving portrait of the land, the animals, the family, the community and the bond between the farmers and their sheep.  Filled with new words (e.g. heft, (v) to become accustomed and attached to a specific upland pasture), new breeds (Herdwicks and Swaledales) which are specifically adapted to living on the Fells, the importance of hay, the links between great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and son.  All combine for a truly interesting and enjoyable book.