Try the Wilderness First: Eric Gill & David Jones at Capel-y-Ffin [Paperback]

Try the Wilderness First is the story of controversial artist Eric Gill's artistic and religious community in the Black Mountains of Wales during the 1920s, told through the character and work of Gill himself and David Jones, two of Britain's most significant twentieth century artists. In it Jonathan Miles offers a commentary on the radical Catholicism of Gill and on the community's Arts and Crafts-style focus on the handmade at its base in a former monastery. Capel-y-ffin's remoteness offered Gill time to develop his religious thinking but also to experiment with his sexuality. For Jones it offered escape from his wartime experiences and a cultural homecoming which resulted in a productive period of painting and engraving.The personality and practice of both men was to be marked indelibly by their time there and in this new edition of his book, Jonathan Miles incorporates new images and new research into a page-turning and accessible narrative.A cultural historian, Jonathan Miles graduated with a first from University College, London and received his doctorate from Jesus College, Oxford. Early books include studies of David Jones. His Wreck of the Medusa - currently under option for a full-length motion picture - is a voyage through the artistic, political and moral clashes of Restoration France. The New York Times called it 'entrallingly recounted … the narrative brilliantly meted out'. His Nine Lives of Otto Katz - the tale of a flamboyant Soviet intriguer and spy - was hailed by the Los Angeles Times 'as unique among accounts of that world'. The press has reacted to St. Petersburg - Three Centuries of Murderous Desire with unbounded enthusiasm: 'a brilliant history' - The Observer; 'extraordinary book … brutally vivid' - The Times (a History Book of the Year); 'a dazzling history of a dazzling city' - The Arts Desk.