The Swimmer

The definitive biography of Roger Deakin, beloved author of cult classic Waterlog

Roger Deakin is best known for his modern classic of nature writing, Waterlog, which frog-kicked the wild swimming movement into existence with wit, politics and poetry.

But he was not simply a dazzling writer and eccentric Englishman. He took his counterculture to the countryside in the 1970s and rebuilt a 16th century farmhouse from its oak beams up. He turned to self-sufficiency, teaching and environmentalism. He became a music impresario and made films, radio programmes and hundreds of friends from all classes - aristocrats, poachers, actors, builders, musicians, tearaways, from city and from town. He was a polymath, an enthusiast, an adventurer, a romantic and rebel.

Roger Deakin was unique, and so too is this joyful work of creative biography, told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues, lovers and neighbours. Delving deep into Roger Deakin's library of words, Patrick Barkham draws from notebooks, diaries, letters, recordings, published work and early drafts, to conjure his voice back to glorious life in these pages.

Patrick Barkham's biography follows Roger Deakin's tree of life, from roots to fruits, revealing the inner life of an extraordinary man.

About the Author

Patrick Barkham is an award-winning author and natural history writer for the Guardian. His books include The Butterfly Isles, Badgerlands, Islander and Wild Child. He is President of Norfolk Wildlife Trust and lives in Norfolk with his family.