author
Arthur Young
1741–1820
An energetic observer of rural life, he became one of the best-known writers on farming and social conditions in late 18th-century Britain. His travels through England, Ireland, and France turned firsthand reporting into vivid books that still help readers picture the age.
3 Audiobooks
Voyages en France pendant les années 1787, 1788, 1789
by Arthur Young
A Tour in Ireland. 1776-1779
by Arthur Young
About the author
Born in 1741, Arthur Young was an English writer, farmer, and commentator whose work helped shape modern agricultural writing. After trying his hand at farming, he began publishing books and articles drawn from direct observation, mixing practical advice with sharp opinions about land, labor, and rural economy.
He became especially well known for his travel accounts, including tours of England, Ireland, and France. These books did more than describe scenery: they recorded farming methods, prices, living conditions, and local customs in a way that made them valuable to later historians as well as to his own readers. He also founded the Annals of Agriculture, an influential periodical that gathered ideas about farming improvement from across Britain.
Young spent his later years as secretary to the Board of Agriculture, a role that matched his lifelong interest in agricultural reform. Today he is remembered both as a major voice in British farming and as a vivid witness to the social and economic world of the late 1700s and early 1800s.