Overview

WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION 2025 A WATERSTONES AND GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2024 'Both dynamite and medicine' AMY-JANE BEER 'Timely and rousing' THE TIMES ________________________________ The lie of the land: that Britain’s landowners care for the countryside. Our landowning elite are paid billions of taxpayer pounds to be good stewards. But these same landowners have carelessly trampled over our best-loved landscapes, leaving the rivers polluted, fenlands drained, and moorlands burned. Guy Shrubsole has travelled across Britain to expose the lie and meet the communities fighting back to restore our lost landscapes. This is a bold, shared vision for our nation’s wild places, and how we can treat them with the awe and care they deserve. *Guy Shrubsole's The Lost Rainforests of Britain was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2023-04-30* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE WESTMINSTER BOOK AWARDS* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE UNWIN AWARD*

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9780008651817

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Reviews

'Timely and rousing' The Times 'It couldn't be more relevant' James O'Brien 'A very, very good book' John Harris, The Guardian 'A fascinating exposé' The i 'Urgent and essential' Caroline Lucas 'Exhilarating, insightful and bristling with rightful indignation' Lee Schofield 'The unjust impositions of historic land ownership blight all our lives – here Guy shows why’ Chris Packham 'This unflinching, illuminating book manages to be both dynamite and medicine' Amy-Jane Beer 'What a book! Vitally important, and superbly written' Aaron Bastani ‘Shrubsole has the belly fire of a campaigner but the precision of an historian’ Roger Mortlock ‘A heartfelt, historically resonant call to reject the myth that private landownership delivers good stewardship of nature' Corinne Fowler ‘A smart, peaceful and practical plan for how we can turn this land into our land’ Patrick Barkham ‘If you care about our environment, read this book’ Sir John Lawton CBE FRS ‘This book beautifully subverts the central orthodoxy of England’ Nick Hayes 'This is Guy Shrubsole’s best book yet' Mark Avery ‘An eye-opening read, both alarming and uplifting in equal measure … If you want to be part of the change, start here’ This England 'Compelling … a timely and important book’ Geographical Magazine 'Genuinely jaw-dropping … bristling with energy and ideas' Martha Dillon ‘As England struggles with its post-Brexit identity, the lie of the land matters deeply’ Tim Lang ‘At once shocking and comforting, scathing and uplifting. A book on this subject shouldn't be so readable. A triumph’ Sophie Pavelle ‘His articulate fervour, seasoned with humour, shouts from every page. He throws down a timely gauntlet to centuries of tradition’ Tom Heap ‘Extraordinary. An affirmation of another kind of rural life that exists within this lie, and all the possibilities that are open to us if we defy it’ Nicola Chester 'Radical and urgent, measured and considered … an essential place to start’ Dr Rose O’Neill, Campaign for National Parks

'Timely and rousing' The Times 'It couldn't be more relevant' James O'Brien 'A fascinating exposé' The i 'Urgent and essential' Caroline Lucas 'Exhilarating, insightful and bristling with rightful indignation' Lee Schofield 'The unjust impositions of historic land ownership blight all our lives – here Guy shows why’ Chris Packham 'This unflinching, illuminating book manages to be both dynamite and medicine' Amy-Jane Beer 'What a book! Vitally important, and superbly written' Aaron Bastani ‘Shrubsole has the belly fire of a campaigner but the precision of an historian’ Roger Mortlock ‘A heartfelt, historically resonant call to reject the myth that private landownership delivers good stewardship of nature' Corinne Fowler ‘A smart, peaceful and practical plan for how we can turn this land into our land’ Patrick Barkham ‘If you care about our environment, read this book’ Sir John Lawton CBE FRS ‘This book beautifully subverts the central orthodoxy of England’ Nick Hayes 'This is Guy Shrubsole’s best book yet' Mark Avery 'Compelling … a timely and important book’ Geographical Magazine 'Genuinely jaw-dropping … bristling with energy and ideas' Martha Dillon ‘Guy Shrubsole asserts the right of the majority to engage in what happens to land. As England struggles with its post-Brexit identity, the lie of the land matters deeply’ Tim Lang ‘At once shocking and comforting, scathing and uplifting. A book on this subject shouldn't be so readable. A triumph’ Sophie Pavelle ‘His articulate fervour, seasoned with humour, shouts from every page. He throws down a timely gauntlet to centuries of tradition’ Tom Heap ‘Extraordinary. An affirmation of another kind of rural life that exists within this lie, and all the possibilities that are open to us if we defy it’ Nicola Chester ‘A rousing call to action’ Claire Ratinon 'Radical and urgent, measured and considered … an essential place to start’ Dr Rose O’Neill, Chief Executive, Campaign for National Parks

Author Information

Guy Shrubsole is a writer and environmental campaigner. He has worked for Rewilding Britain, Friends of the Earth, the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture. He has written widely for publications including the Guardian and New Statesman. His first book, Who Owns England?, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

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