Warren, D: Onwards

Onwards is an ode to the bonds of companionship that grow between those who revel in the wilder landscapes of the British Isles. Written in the style of Ring of Bright Water and Born Free, Onwards tells the true story of the author's life in falconry, beginning with his childhood in rural Shropshire. Along the way we meet a cast of eclectic individuals - from a duck-shooting vicar, a maverick gamekeeper, to an SAS soldier-turned-explorer - they all play their part as Warren regales captivating anecdotes from his annual pilgrimages to the north of Scotland. Warren takes the reader out onto the windswept moorlands and shares with them the wondrous dance of pointer, peregrine and prey. Onwards offers a window on an unusual life well lived and is a touching, personal account of loss. Ultimately, what we learn is that friendship is the highest calling and those who inspire us never leave us: each of us is the legacy that others leave behind. An elegy to wisdom, wonder and camaraderie. Onwards is both a fine debut and a fitting testament to the masters of an art.