Agricultural History Review, Volume 49 Part 2 (2001), pp. 187–209

With the seemingly inexorable advance of organicism from the fringes of 'muck and mystery' towards the core of current agrarian strategy, the career of Rolf Gardiner, one of the most original thinkers among the inter-war ruralists and an early propogandist for the Soil Association, is of considerable significance to modern agricultural and rural history. In reviewing aspects of Gardiner's earlier career, engaging with the difficult issue of his political allegiances, and considering his association with the Council for the Church and Countryside, this article seeks to portray Gardiner as a paternalistic patriot bent upon the regeneration of rural England. 

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