John Clare was reputedly a solitary, shy man, at one with nature and the world. Although these authors have both published books which indicate otherwise, in this volume they focus on Clare as a transgressive figure. While he documented and celebrated the country life he valued so highly, he was also a witness to the partial destruction of that life, with the coming of enclosure and increasingly severe penalties for trespass. John Clare: The Trespasser shows how, in his poetry, autobiography and letters, Clare was no supporter or respecter of property rights.