David Austin's first collection of poetry is the tale of The Breathing Earth: not a metaphor, but a living entity, an ecosystem that is the root of every story. Often drawing on his own life experiences in these personal tales, here is the philosophical, meditative poetry at the heart of the English tradition. David Austin is the author of a number of books in his capacity as the most distinguished breeder of roses and founder of the UK's largest and most prestigious rose-grower, but in The Breathing Earth we find a book unlike any of his other work: the account of a career and a life spent in contemplation of the natural world and human behaviour.