Edward Solomon Hyams (30 September 1910 – 25 November 1975) was a British gardener and horticulturalist, historian, novelist and writer, and anarchist. He is known for his writings as a French scholar and socialist historian, and as a gardener. Biography Early life Edward Hyams was born in Stamford Hill, London, on 30 September 1910, to Arthur (Isaac) Hyams and Annie Dollie Leitson Hyams. Arthur Hyams (b. 19 June 1881) was a "well-known London advertising agent", "of the Borough Billposting Company, London" Annie was born April 1884. Hyams attend the University College School in London as a child, then went to the Lycée Jaccard boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland and Lausanne University. Hyams spent his early adulthood (1929-1933) as a factory worker, among other jobs, including in newspapers. In 1933, Hyams and Hilda Mary Aylett, then 28, married. The two had met at work, served in World War II, and both identified as "Cockney". Literary career and military service Hyams published his first novel, The Wings of the Morning in 1939. Over the next two years he published two more novels, A Time to Cast Away in 1940 and To Sea in a Bowl in 1941. He continued to write novels and short fiction for the rest of his life. In the 1930s, Hyams was a pacifist and a member of the Peace Pledge Union, but abandoned pacifism upon the outbreak of the Second World War. Hyams joined the Royal Air Force (1939-1941) but was disqualified from being a pilot because of his poor eyesight. Hyams then applied for a transfer to the Royal Navy, which was granted; he spent the rest of the war in the Navy, 1941-1946, promoted to lieutenant. Hyams and Hilda were demobilized in 1947, and settled in Molash, in Kent, England. Gardening and viticulture In Molash, the couple took up gardening, restoring a three-acre cottage garen property. He wrote about this time in his memoir, From the Waste Land, describing the transformation of his home, "Nut Tree Cottages", into a prosperous market garden. Hyams stayed in Molash until 1960, while becoming an increasingly avid horticulturalist. During this time, Hyams also developed a serious interest in viticulture, and in 1960 moved to south Devon, to re-establish grape vineyards in England. He published The Grape Vine in England in 1949, and edited a volume on English viticulture in 1953, Vineyards in England. In 1965 Hyams published Dionysus: A