Return of a Native

'Sly, luminous, brutal, and funny' – Ruth Wilson Gilmore

'Bears the compelling message that if you want to understand the world around you, look to the ground beneath your feet. Vron Ware excavates stories that shed new light on our own age, and should prompt us to rethink the way we relate to the land, to our histories and to one another' – Daniel Trilling, author of Lights in the Distance

The English countryside is often seen as timeless, remote and shielded from the harshest problems of modern life. Yet, as Return of a Native reveals, it is to rural England that we must look for the roots of our current crises.

Beginning and ending at a crossroads in north west Hampshire, with feet planted firmly on the soil, Vron Ware brings her experience of writing about racism, colonial history, war and feminism to show us how to look at the land in a new light. With one eye on the parish and another on the distant horizon, she leaves no stone unturned in this quest to understand how we humans arrived at this place.

From Bronze Age ruins to the fall-out from Brexit, Return of a Native is an ecological reckoning with England’s future as well as its deep history.

Vron Ware has been writing about racism, gender, history and national identity since the 1980s. Her books include Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism and History; Out of Whiteness: Color, Politics and Culture; Who Cares about Britishness?; and Military Migrants: Fighting for YOUR Country. She has worked as a journalist, photographer, environmental designer and academic.