Fans pick 32 books like Epping Forest

By William Addison,

Here are 32 books that Epping Forest fans have personally recommended if you like Epping Forest. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Epping Forest: With Chapters on Forest Management, Geology of the District, Prehistoric Man and the Ancient Fauna, Entomology, Pond Life, and Fungi of the Forest

Nicholas Hagger Author Of A View of Epping Forest

From my list on Epping Forest.

Why am I passionate about this?

I arrived in Epping Forest when I was four and quickly came to love its trees and ponds. I saw Churchill speak in Loughton in 1945. We were taken on fishing expeditions to the Forest Ponds, and I got into my next school by writing an essay on ‘Newts’. When older I regularly walked to look at the two ponds on Strawberry Hill. Later still I brought my children to the Forest. My two sons were baptised in the church in the Forest, Holy Innocents. I am a woodlander through and through with an instinctive love of the Tudor aspects of the Forest when Fairmead was Henry VIII’s deer park.

Nicholas' book list on Epping Forest

Nicholas Hagger Why did Nicholas love this book?

This is a guide to Epping Forest at the end of the First World War, and covers its history, topography (many routes through the Forest), wildlife, and geology of the Forest, with maps. It is fascinating to see what parts of Epping Forest looked like a hundred years ago, and what birds and wildlife could be seen then.

By Edward North Buxton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Epping Forest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Excerpt from Epping Forest

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. This text has been…


Book cover of London's Epping Forest

Nicholas Hagger Author Of A View of Epping Forest

From my list on Epping Forest.

Why am I passionate about this?

I arrived in Epping Forest when I was four and quickly came to love its trees and ponds. I saw Churchill speak in Loughton in 1945. We were taken on fishing expeditions to the Forest Ponds, and I got into my next school by writing an essay on ‘Newts’. When older I regularly walked to look at the two ponds on Strawberry Hill. Later still I brought my children to the Forest. My two sons were baptised in the church in the Forest, Holy Innocents. I am a woodlander through and through with an instinctive love of the Tudor aspects of the Forest when Fairmead was Henry VIII’s deer park.

Nicholas' book list on Epping Forest

Nicholas Hagger Why did Nicholas love this book?

I recommend this book as I have often gone back to it.

It takes us from Chingford Plain to Fairmead Bottom, High Beach, Upshire, Waltham Abbey, Epping, Strawberry Hill, and Connaught Waters, all of which I often visited in my boyhood and youth. There are many lovely pictures, most in black and white and some in colour, and there are good maps.

It gives me pleasure to be reminded of pre-1968 local scenes in the pictures.

By James A. Brimble,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked London's Epping Forest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Epping Forest Then and Now

Nicholas Hagger Author Of A View of Epping Forest

From my list on Epping Forest.

Why am I passionate about this?

I arrived in Epping Forest when I was four and quickly came to love its trees and ponds. I saw Churchill speak in Loughton in 1945. We were taken on fishing expeditions to the Forest Ponds, and I got into my next school by writing an essay on ‘Newts’. When older I regularly walked to look at the two ponds on Strawberry Hill. Later still I brought my children to the Forest. My two sons were baptised in the church in the Forest, Holy Innocents. I am a woodlander through and through with an instinctive love of the Tudor aspects of the Forest when Fairmead was Henry VIII’s deer park.

Nicholas' book list on Epping Forest

Nicholas Hagger Why did Nicholas love this book?

This is a massive book, 480 pages packed with pictures of old Forest houses, contrasting past and present views.

It begins with the Forest, deer, and ancient camps and soon devotes 20 or 30 pages to old pictures of each of the Forest villages and places, including Woodford, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Loughton, Chingford, High Beach, Theydon Bois, Abridge, Epping and Waltham Abbey. Press reports from past centuries and the 1980s and quotations from books on Epping Forest can be found on every page to illustrate the pictures.

By Winston G. Ramsey (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Epping Forest Then and Now as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The historic Epping Forest area of Great Britain is portrayed through "then and now" comparisons, recording the changing scene since the earliest days of photography. From Forest Gate in the south to Epping in the north; from Chigwell and Abridge in the east through Chingford to the great abbey of Waltham in the west, a wide-ranging mixture of contemporary extracts has been blended with more than 1400 photographs, drawings and maps, together with specially-taken aerial photographs, to trace the events and developments which have shaped the locality. The illustrations being combined with a text researched mainly from newspapers, magazine articles…


Book cover of Getting to Know Epping Forest

Nicholas Hagger Author Of A View of Epping Forest

From my list on Epping Forest.

Why am I passionate about this?

I arrived in Epping Forest when I was four and quickly came to love its trees and ponds. I saw Churchill speak in Loughton in 1945. We were taken on fishing expeditions to the Forest Ponds, and I got into my next school by writing an essay on ‘Newts’. When older I regularly walked to look at the two ponds on Strawberry Hill. Later still I brought my children to the Forest. My two sons were baptised in the church in the Forest, Holy Innocents. I am a woodlander through and through with an instinctive love of the Tudor aspects of the Forest when Fairmead was Henry VIII’s deer park.

Nicholas' book list on Epping Forest

Nicholas Hagger Why did Nicholas love this book?

This book has a Foreword by Lord Murray, who lived near me and I often met.

It covers the area in eight sections, including Buckhurst Hill, Chingford Woods and Fairmead Bottom, Loughton Woods (Strawberry Hill and Loughton Camp), High Beach, and Ambresbury Banks. There are black and white, and coloured, pictures and maps. I used to run into Ken Hoy at events and we sometimes chatted.

This book gives information about over 200 of the Forest’s woods, plains, streams, and tracks.

By Ken Hoy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Getting to Know Epping Forest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Masque of the Red Death

Shannen Camp Author Of Parrish

From my list on proof humans are scarier than ghosts.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, my family and I would make scary movies to watch at our own annual family film festival. Horror has always been a passion of mine. The way horror can evoke emotions in you that you can’t otherwise access is a special kind of high. As a horror movie/game/book aficionado, I’ve tried to weave elements of horror into my stories. My favorite types of scary stories are the ones that would stand on their own, even if the ghosts were taken away. I am so passionate about horror with heart, which can be hard to find in a world of slasher movies and true crime.

Shannen's book list on proof humans are scarier than ghosts

Shannen Camp Why did Shannen love this book?

I love Edgar Allan Poe. His stories are so visceral and yet so simplistic in their scares. Of all of the stories by Poe, however, I think this book was a bit of a sleeper agent for me. It wasn’t until COVID-19 happened that I really saw how terrifying this story really was.

The idea of the rich hiding out from a plague that’s destroying the world was much too relatable in 2020. Just like in other titles in this list, the actual ghost itself isn’t necessarily what’s scary. It’s what the ghost represents. Not just death but pride, privilege, selfishness, guilt, and apathy.

Re-reading this book back in 2020 was an experience much too understandable, and it really scared me in a way it hadn’t before. The message Poe was trying to convey stuck with me in a new and horrifying way.

By Edgar Allan Poe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Masque of the Red Death as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.

Arguably America's most influential short story writer, Edgar Allan Poe's tales of suspense never fail to spook…


Book cover of From Life: Julia Margaret Cameron and Victorian Photography

Donna M. Lucey Author Of Sargent's Women: Four Lives Behind the Canvas

From my list on women who broke the rules—or new ground.

Why am I passionate about this?

A New York Times bestselling author, I love excavating the lives of eccentric, strong-willed women. There’s the thrill of the chase—holding handwritten letters and diaries and uncovering, bit by bit, the story of each woman—and the adventure of encountering the unexpected: Wandering through a rattlesnake-infested Montana cabin (Photographing Montana 1894-1928: The Life and Work of Evelyn Cameron); being woken by a ghost while staying at a decaying Astor mansion in the Hudson Valley (Archie and Amélie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age); climbing 200 stone steps to reach the Royal Archives in Windsor Castle, while the recently-departed Queen Elizabeth was in the courtyard below (Victoria’s Island, in process). Such fun.

Donna's book list on women who broke the rules—or new ground

Donna M. Lucey Why did Donna love this book?

I adore eccentric, talented women—and Julia Margaret Cameron was surely that—and I love nineteenth-century photography. When nearly 50 years old, Cameron took up photography and created her signature art of soft-focus, emotive portraiture. She was living on Britain’s Isle of Wight, surrounded by a who’s who of Victorian England: Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Queen Victoria herself who summered in a nearby palace. Cameron photographed the humblest islanders as well as some of the greatest personages of the day, and her work has inspired modern artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith. 

By Victoria C. Olsen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked From Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Acknowledged as the outstanding portrait photographer of her generation, Julia Margaret Cameron was a very late starter. She was born to English and French parents in Calcutta in 1815, five days before the Battle of Waterloo. Her father was a high-ranking civil servant in the British East India Company, and it was expected that Julia would follow the example of her sisters by connecting herself to an established Anglo-Indian professional. She did exactly that in 1838 when she married Charles Hay Cameron, a legal scholar, and settled down to the quiet life of a typical Victorian colonial matron. But beneath…


Book cover of The Wanderings of Oisin: And Other Poems

Cassia Hall Author Of Songs of Love & Longing: Poem & Songs from the Seasons Cycle

From my list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up loving the works of Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Now I write romantic fantasy with a lyrical, fairy-tale vibe. The Seasons Cycle is a spin-off series from my main Lake Traveler saga. My poetry includes Poems of Myth & Magick, and Songs of Love & Longing. I compose songs and background music for key scenes in my stories. My music has been described as GoT meets LoTR with a lyrical twist and a musical theatre vibe. You can check out my songs and instrumental pieces on my youtube channel and my music website.

Cassia's book list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh

Cassia Hall Why did Cassia love this book?

Yeats is one of my favourite poets, and while you may not associate him with fantasy, he did write some extraordinarily beautiful poems that are retellings of Irish folk tales and legends. Teeming with faeries, immortals, and other fey creatures, these are poems in the tradition of the great Romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, Keats, and Tennyson. The titular poem is only one of many beautiful fantasy poems in this collection.

Book cover of The Lady of Shalott

Cassia Hall Author Of Songs of Love & Longing: Poem & Songs from the Seasons Cycle

From my list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up loving the works of Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Now I write romantic fantasy with a lyrical, fairy-tale vibe. The Seasons Cycle is a spin-off series from my main Lake Traveler saga. My poetry includes Poems of Myth & Magick, and Songs of Love & Longing. I compose songs and background music for key scenes in my stories. My music has been described as GoT meets LoTR with a lyrical twist and a musical theatre vibe. You can check out my songs and instrumental pieces on my youtube channel and my music website.

Cassia's book list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh

Cassia Hall Why did Cassia love this book?

"The Lady of Shalott" is a famous poem in the Romantic tradition. It’s partly inspired by Edmund Spenser’s "The Faerie Queene," and partly by the Arthurian legend. Most people have heard at least a few of the oft-quoted lines. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it, but I still get caught up in the story-telling and the magical fantasy vibes. In my opinion, it’s right up there with the greatest fantasy poems of all time.

By Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Keeping (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lady of Shalott as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

Tennyson's romantic poem, full of atmosphere and emotion, tells the story of the mysterious Lady of Shalott. In this exquisite illustrated edition, Charles Keeping's evocative pictures take us to Camelot, a fabled world of knights and castles, to witness the cursed life and tragic death of a beautiful but doomed maiden. This new edition features rescanned artwork to capture the inspiring detail of Keeping's illustrations and a striking new cover.


Book cover of Kings, Queens & Courtiers: Intimate Portraits of the Royal House of Windsor from its foundation to the present day

Robert Lacey Author Of Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor

From my list on about the Queen.

Why am I passionate about this?

Robert Lacey is credited with changing the way that people read and write about the British monarchy. In 1977 his tell-it-how-it-is Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor overturned the clichés of the traditional ‘royal book’, hitherto the preserve of ex-nannies and obsequious court correspondents. As a Cambridge-trained historian of the first Elizabethan age – his biographies Robert, Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Ralegh won critical acclaim – the young journalist added the investigative techniques of his work on the Sunday Times to portray the monarchy in a fresh and analytical fashion. Robert is today Historical Consultant to the Netflix TV series The Crown.

Robert's book list on about the Queen

Robert Lacey Why did Robert love this book?

This gazetteer for monarch-aholics is the work of the witty and waspish Kenneth Rose (1924-2014), the royal biographer whose insights have set the standard for the rest of us. Embedded in the heart of the Establishment, Rose had the ability to skewer its every weakness. Duchesses, Diana, Dimbleby (Richard) and Charlotte, George V’s pet parrot – all are here, bearing out the words of Queen Elizabeth II’s non-royal grandmother, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon: "As far as I can see, some people have to be fed royalty like sea-lions fish."

By Kenneth Rose,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Kings, Queens & Courtiers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Super fast * (from TX) with tracking. 100% satisfaction *, top customer service! Hand wrapped, smoke free, pet free.


Book cover of Harnessing Peacocks

Leslie Morris Noyes Author Of Willing: A Contemporary Romance

From my list on for smart woman over forty.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a creative director in Vermont with a few favorite things: laughter, standard poodles, and happy endings—in life and in fiction. Romance fiction abounds with young heroines and happy endings. But I prefer reading about mature women like myself, women who have experienced their share of disappointments yet face life’s challenges with courage and humor. I like the elements of both genres in one juicy book. After much-frustrated searching, I gave up and wrote the story I wanted to read. My wise, middle-aged heroine still has lots to learn about grief and joy, and learns many of those lessons with men—in bed.

Leslie's book list on for smart woman over forty

Leslie Morris Noyes Why did Leslie love this book?

Ms. Wesley didn’t publish until she was seventy, which I find inspiring. She produced ten slim interconnected novels. Like the heroine of Delicious although a century later, this one cooks. She cooks for elderly ladies, visiting for a week or two to stock their freezers with fabulous meals. Her less innocent sideline is “visiting” with men. These occupations earn her enough to keep her fatherless son in an excellent private school. Then, the unthinkable happens: two men who were previously unknown to each other discover they may be sharing the same mistress. The problem is they thought their arrangements were exclusive. A comedy of manners ensues. Wesley’s prose cuts like a finely honed knife. And she does her cutting with very few words. I so admire that skill!  

By Mary Wesley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Harnessing Peacocks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hebe sits in the darkness and listens to her hypocritical grandparents and her older siblings discuss how her unexpected pregnancy must be terminated to avoid the shame it will bring. Determined to raise her child, she flees into the night with only her mother's jewellery to support her.

Twelve years later she is living happily alone in Cornwall, whilst her son attends an expensive private school. Hebe has harnessed her two great talents - cooking and making love - to make a living for herself, but when the separate strands of her life become intangled the even tenor of her…


Book cover of Epping Forest: With Chapters on Forest Management, Geology of the District, Prehistoric Man and the Ancient Fauna, Entomology, Pond Life, and Fungi of the Forest
Book cover of London's Epping Forest
Book cover of Epping Forest Then and Now

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