Pedlars’ Guide to the Great Outdoors by Charlie Gladstone, Caroline Gladstone

If the mere whisper of a relaxing weekend in the country has your offspring moaning and groaning, refusing to leave the warm glow of the TV, then this is the book to quell the quarrels. Containing irreverent (and eminently useful) tips on the outdoors lifestyle, and how to teach your children to enjoy it, the Pedlars’ Guide to the Great Outdoors is the perfect handbook for reinvigorating your inner spirit—no matter your age. From the perfect country walk (take pork pies and a hip flask of red wine); outdoorsy family games (be anarchic, but be careful when your wife is wielding a croquet mallet); dealing with ticks (it’s all about vodka), and tips for dazzling barbecues (scallops, venison, and mud-baked potatoes). Moving from the city and launching themselves into country life, the Gladstones learned everything they know through a great love for the outdoors. And if the Gladstones don’t know it first hand, they know someone who does. The guidebook is studded with chatty, first-person interviews on topics as varied as wild camping, bee-keeping, and trout-tickling, and all are stories told with a bit of an edge. It’s the great outdoors—but a bit rock ‘n’ roll.