JUST ACROSS THE FIELDS describes life on a Gloucestershire farm when the author was a boy. These are the last days of old time farming, of hoeing turnips, pulling mangolds, stooking corn, thatching and wagon loading. The work is hard and the hours are long, but it is deeply satisfying and never monotonous. And the characters are unforgettable: men like Hesketh Newman in his bowler hat, Caleb Pocock, Jack Musgrove and Bill Lugg. JUST ACROSS THE FIELDS is more than a record of farming before it became big business: it is local life and enthusiasm, village solidarity and companionship. It is a warm, steady, peaceful life which we can live for a while through the timeless pages of Humphrey Phelps' book - one which deserves to rank with the classics of childhood autobiography.