The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain reveals how landowners wreck the countryside, and how the public can restore it
'Brave and brilliantâ George Monbiot
âUrgent and essential ⊠should be required readingâ
Caroline Lucas
For centuries weâve been sold a lie: that you need to own the land to care for it.
Just 1% of the population own half of England, and this tiny landowning elite like to present themselves as the rightful custodians of the countryside. Theyâre even paid billions of pounds of public money to be good stewards. But what happens when they just donât care?
A small number of landowners have laid waste to some of our most treasured landscapes, leaving our forests bare, our rivers polluted, our moorlands burned, and our fenlands drained. Here Guy Shrubsole journeys all over Britain to expose the damage done to our land, and meet the communities fighting back: the river guardians, small farmers and trespassing activists restoring our lost wildlife. Full of rage and hope, this is a bold vision for our nationâs wild places, and how we can treat them with the awe and attention they deserve.
Itâs time to demand better for nature. We can start by replacing the lie of the land with a profound truth: that any of us can care for the countryside, regardless of whether you own it.
'The unjust impositions of historic land ownership blight all our lives â here Guy shows whyâ
Chris Packham
'Both dynamite and medicine' Amy-Jane Beer