'The contributors are outstanding scholars in their fields, and are conspicuously fair-minded in their approach to Gardiner, a man who aroused both powerful admiration and dislike in those who knew him: sometimes in the same person. The book conveys a strong sense of Gardiner's complex character, but also situates him in a wider political and cultural context, helping to broaden our understanding of the interwar period.' Philip Conford, author of The Origins of the Organic Movement 'Alternately revered as a pioneer of eco-friendly agriculture or reviled as a pro-Nazi crank, Rolf Gardiner stood at the centre of a range of social movements - youth culture, folk dance, naturism, organic farming - that gained strength in Britain and Germany during the interwar years and continue to resonate in our society today. A balanced evaluation of his influence is well overdue, and in this book, Matthew Jefferies and Mike Tyldesley have put together an intelligent and important collection of essays by some of the most significant scholars in the field to shed light on these issues. As a result of these efforts, a better nuanced understanding of Gardiner's work and its internal tensions is at last made possible.' Piers H.G. Stephens, University of Georgia, USA 'This is a significant book. It is a fair- and open-minded attempt to make sense of a figure who continues to defy easy categorization, and it has much to offer cultural, political, and rural historians, regardless of whether or not they have previously been aware of Rolf Gardiner.' Twentieth Century British History 'There is a great deal of fascinating material, concrete facts as well as the authors’ opinions. Even those who care only about Gardiner’s role in the folk revival would be well advised to study all the chapters. I highly recommend Griffiths’s short interpretative essay, as well as the in-depth, data-based studies, particularly those by Fowler and Jefferies. The authors are to be particularly commended