Table of Contents

Foreword by Angie Lewin • 1. On Chesil Beach • 2. Sir Mortimer at War • 3. Picasso’s Pebbles • 4. Jim Ede and the Louvre of the Pebble • 5. Basically Derek • 6. Eminent Victorians • 7. At the Natural History Museum • 8. No Stone Unturned • 9. Some Pebbles • 10. Some Beaches • Afterword

Promotional Information

The perfect seaside and armchair companion to the pebbles of the British Isles

About the Author

Christopher Stocks is an author, journalist and trainee bell-ringer. His first book, Forgotten Fruits, a social history of British fruit and vegetables, became an unlikely success, with Monty Don choosing it as his favourite book of the year. Angie Lewin studied fine art at the Central School of Art and has become a highly regarded artist and printmaker.

Reviews

'As someone who lives on Chesil Beach – perhaps the most famous shingle beach in the UK – Christopher Stocks is uniquely well-placed to talk about the visceral appeal of pebbles: the sounds they make as they are ground together by the waves and their physical properties – their “weight and heft, their smooth shapes seeming almost designed to be held in the hand”.' - The Scotsman

'For anyone unable to walk along a beach without stopping every few steps to pick up a lozenge of quartz washed by the receding tide or a grey-slate skimmer, this book is an ideal companion.' - Country Life