Urgent and inspiring stories of rural Britain today, from the Sunday Times no. 1 bestselling author of Politics on the Edge'A triumph' LITERARY REVIEW'A rare and life-affirming story of searching and finding our place to be and to cherish' MICHAEL MORPURGO'Urgent and inspiring... Deeply rooted in history and the land, personal, wise and often funny' CAROLINE LUCASRory Stewart spent nearly a decade as MP for Britain's most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border. As he came to know and love this part of Cumbria, he found inspiration in the beauty of its landscape, its rugged history as a frontierland, and in the spirit of its people. Drawing on pieces originally written for a local newspaper, Middleland is an urgent and inspiring portrait of rural Britain today - a place caught in tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national politics - as well as a timeless evocation of the history, people and landscape of Cumbria. These are stories of beauty and ingenuity, which also show us what a better politics might look like. PRAISE FOR POLITICS ON THE EDGE'An instant classic' MARINA HYDE'At last a politician who can write' SEBASTIAN FAULKS'Beautifully written' GUARDIAN'Hugely entertaining' EVENING STANDARD