THE newly-released book by Lakes farmer, bestselling author James Rebanks, is provoking a flood of positive tweets from his thousands of followers on Twitter.

English Pastoral: An Inheritance, published by Allen Lane, is described as a 'stirring history of family, loss and the land over three generations on a Lake District farm. It is the story of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and how the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost.But it is also one of hope, of how, one farmer is doing his best to restore the life that had vanished, and to leave a legacy for the future.'

James's family have lived and farmed at Matterdale in the Lake District for six hundred years.

His first book, The Shepherd's Life, won The Lakeland Book of the Year 2015 and was shortlisted for both The Wainwright Prize and the Ondaatje Prize.

English Pastoral is a follow up to his number one bestselling debut The Shepherd's Life, which also won the Lake District Book of the Year and has been translated into sixteen languages.

James, who was involved in the bid for the Lake District to receive World Heritage status (which was approved by UNESCO in 2017), as of July 2017 had a following of 97,700 on Twitter as "Herdwick Shepherd".

James said of his new book on Twitter: "It took me a little while', but my new book is now on sale. It is about everything I care about and love and I hope you like it." He has been quoted as saying everyone has a duty to look after the land.