The Story of a Farm

Goodall provides a rich historical panorama of the English farm, beginning with the swineherds and wattle huts of the Middle Ages and ending with the modern mechanized farm and a farmhouse bed-and-breakfast. Along the way are entrancing views of many aspects of farm life: the architecture, work and seasonal celebrations as they have evolved over the centuries. Goodall once again shows his remarkable flair for rendering the spirit of a place and era in a single spread. His watercolors capture both particular details and larger impressions, and finely convey a sense of time's inexorable passage. In addition, he makes ingenious use of half-page flaps to portray two faces of a single scene: a harvest dinner becomes a rousing barn dance; haymaking gives way to a midday break in the fields; a milling group of hounds is next shown running with the hunt. As with Goodall's previous works, readers will come away from this book feeling amply enlightened and rewarded. All ages. (Mar.)