Overview

What history can teach us about how to avoid ecological catastrophe ‘Sophie writes fantastically, chronicling the most important issues facing nature conservationists today.’ Chris Packham For thousands of years, humans have been the architects of the natural world. Our activities have permanently altered the environment – for good and for bad. In Nature’s Ghosts, award-winning journalist Sophie Yeo examines how the planet would have looked before humans scrubbed away its diversity: from landscapes carved out by megafauna to the primeval forests that emerged following the last Ice Age, and from the eagle-haunted skies of the Dark Ages to the flower-decked farms of more recent centuries. Uncovering the stories of the people who have helped to shape the landscape, she seeks out their footprints even where it seems there are none to be found. And she explores the timeworn knowledge that can help to fix our broken relationship with the earth. Along the way, Sophie encounters the environmental detectives – archaeological, cultural and ecological – reconstructing, in stunning detail, the landscapes we have lost. Today, the natural world is more vulnerable than ever; the footprints of humanity heavier than they have ever been. But, as this urgent book argues, from the ghosts of the past, we may learn how to build a more wild and ancient future.

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9780008474126

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Reviews

‘Sophie writes fantastically, chronicling the most important issues facing nature conservationists today.’ Chris Packham ‘Essential, intelligent reading. Sophie is one of the brightest, best-informed and balanced contributors to big debates over climate change, biodiversity loss and the future of nature.’ Patrick Barkham ‘Sophie's writing blends the crisp prose of investigative journalism with the poetry born of her obvious passion for the natural world.’ Guy Shrubsole ‘Indispensable. Sophie's crystal clear writing style and ability to describe often complex issues with such precision, balance and humour is extraordinary.’ Lee Schofield 'Yeo proves herself to be a diligent and intuitive landscape detective.' Jon Gower

‘Sophie writes fantastically about the natural world in Britain. Through her work, she chronicles the most important issues facing nature conservationists today. I always enjoy reading her work.’ Chris Packham ‘Sophie Yeo's work is essential, intelligent reading for anyone interested in British wildlife. Sophie is one of the brightest, best-informed and balanced contributors in this country to big debates over climate change, biodiversity loss and the future of nature.’ Patrick Barkham, author of Wild Green Wonders: A Life in Nature ‘Sophie Yeo has already galvanised the nature conservation movement in Britain with her phenomenally well-informed magazine. Sophie's writing blends the crisp prose of investigative journalism with the poetry born of her obvious passion for the natural world.’ Guy Shrubsole, author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain ‘Sophie Yeo's work is rapidly becoming an indispensable source of environmental information. Her crystal clear writing style and ability to describe often complex issues with such precision, balance and humour is extraordinary. I have no doubt that her writing in longer form will be every bit as enthralling.’ Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm

Author Information

Sophie Yeo is a writer and journalist based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She has written about nature and climate change for publications including the Washington Post, the Guardian and BBC Future. She is also the founder and editor of Inkcap Journal, a publication focusing on conservation in Britain, which won the Press Gazette Newsletter of the Year award in 2022.

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