THAT John Van Der Kiste is an accomplished author cannot be doubted.

His numerous erudite, well researched books — including biographies of eminent sovereigns and statesmen of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries —give abundant evidence; as, indeed, does his introduction to 'Dartmoor — From Old Photographs', a pertinent, concise yet illuminating history of the moor from the bronze age to modern times.

Yet, few words — except for precise descriptive captions —follow this, this author forsaking the written word for well over 120 pages of photographs, and doing it with notable success.

Certainly, when one considers the immense array of written publications concerning 'the last wilderness', both ancient and modern, it is a welcome and imaginative change to have a pictorial record, one which covers, mainly, some 50 years, the final quarter of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth.

A feature of the book is that the quality of the photos — a number of which will be fresh to the eyes of even students of Dartmoor life — generally, is of the highest order. Sharp, evocative and reproduced on high quality paper, the coverage of all parts of the moor and surrounding areas is comprehensive, and very fairly distributed.

Certainly, the west of Dartmoor — and the villages and towns nestling in the foothills — is featured in numerous photographs which will be of immense interest to a wide range of folk, both locally and beyond.

And the coverage is spread throughout the 6 chapters, which cover views; tors, crosses and hut circles; churches, schools, houses, and farms; towns, villages and hamlets; railways and transport and finally people and the military.

Cox Tor and the contentious Vixen Tor are amongst the scenic views featured, while Princetown, with its almost iconic prison, and its location of being, many claim, the highest town in England, has excellent coverage, not least in the railway chapter.

Brentor Church, with its stark lineage and awesome aspect is there, inevitably, as is nearby Lydford Gorge.

The construction of Burrator reservoir more than 100 years ago is captured, while there is a delightful picture of nearby Meavy School, with the children lined up outside.

In the military section, an army camp (1909) is displayed on Whitchurch Down, while Willsworthy and Okehampton camps are also featured; and no compilation of the pictorial magnificence of this rocky plateau would be complete without coverage of the boulder strewn rivers, all being displayed quite beautifully.

A further dimension to this publication is the author and compiler's clear awareness that no matter how remote and bleak an area, it is still about more than scenery, or even buildings — it is also about people.

Victorian and early 20th century faces gaze out from many pictures, while there are a handful of individual portraits of significant moor folk, none possibly with more modern relevance than Chagford's James Perrot, for 50 years a tourist guide on the moor, and the man who, in effect, invented the hugely popular modern hobby of Dartmoor letterboxing.

John Van Der Kiste has put together a richly varied range of photographs of this famed, evocative upland area which will please, inform and satisfy readers and perusers whether they be serious students, casual enquirers or tourists; certainly, to own this book will be most satisfying.

Dartmoor From Old Photographs by John Van Der Kiste is published by Amberley Publishing Plc, ISBN 978-1-84868-731-8, priced at £12.99

Ted Sherrell