Henry Williamson is known to many as the author of Tarka the Otter and Salar the Salmon, and was one of the first to alert the public to the impending conservation crisis. John Akeroyd describes Williamson’s role in advocating for the British countryside, how his part in the First World War shaped his perspectives, and his experiences in managing his own farm in Norfolk.
Henry Williamson (1895–1977) is familiar to many as the author of Tarka the Otter, first published in 1927 and never out of print. This and other animal stories and nature essays established his reputation, although novels about the First World War and its legacy, for which he would rather have been known, are less widely read.