In this lucid and highly readable book, Peter France shows how hermits, from the Taoists and Ancient Greeks to the present day, have something vitally important to say to a society that fears solitude.

And, as Gordon Campbell shows, they live on in the art, literature, and drama of our own day - as well as in the figure of the modern-day garden gnome.

The curious and intriguing tale of the garden hermit - from imperial Rome to the ornamental gnome, via the often sumptuous landscaped gardens of Georgian England.

Shipwrecked in 1757 on an iceberg in the Arctic seas with only an orphaned polar bear cub for companionship, seventeen-year-old Allan begins a seemingly hopeless struggle for survival.

She realises that home doesn't exist within walls, but within the landscape of her childhood home county. Lyrically written, this is an inspirational story of recovery, of finding home, and of celebrating solitude in the natural world.

Thought-provoking and entertaining, these stories move along quickly but continue to resonate long after the reader is done; several have been anthologized in award collections.” —Library Journal “Beautiful in their magical imagery, ...