In the early 2000s, a group of environmental historians left their desks and libraries and went into the field, visiting three places in England – the Quantock Hills, Wicker Fen in Norfolk and Kielder Water and Forest in Northumberland. The result is a volume of 31 essays that cross the boundaries of disciplines and cover topics ranging from birds and squirrels as history, to the beauty and aesthetics of place, nature and environment.