Duff Hart-Davis, British journalist and naturalist, dead at 89

Peter Duff Hart-Davis was a renowned British journalist, biographer, and naturalist.

He began his journalism career at the Sunday Telegraph when it launched in 1961, and later served as literary editor and features writer. From 1986 to 2001, Hart-Davis created the weekly “Country Matters” column for The Independent, providing reflections on rural living, wildlife, and environmental issues.

Born into a notable literary family, he was the eldest son of publisher Rupert Hart-Davis and brother of TV personality Adam Hart-Davis. His aunt was journalist Alice Hart-Davis. He grew up on a farm in Oxfordshire. He studied classics at Oxford and completed national military service in Germany. Duff lived on a Cotswolds farm with his wife, Phyllida Barstow, where they raised sheep, horses, alpacas, chickens, and kept bees.

Hart-Davis wrote non-fiction works on 20th-century history, military topics, natural landscapes in England, and animal life in his native country. Several of his books described the life and work of other naturalists. His books address political and geographic topics, the earliest published in 1964. His biography of his adventurer Peter Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming, Peter Fleming: A Biography, was published in 1974. Peter Fleming also happened to be Hart-Davis’s godfather.

Over his career, he published more than 40 books that included biographies, natural history, military history, and memoirs. His best-known non-fiction works include: Peter Fleming: A Biography (1974), Hitler’s Games: The 1936 Olympics (1986), Fauna Britannica (2002), Audubon’s Elephant (2003), Our Land at War: Rural Britain 1939–45 (2015).