The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole

The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole

'Both dynamite and medicine' AMY-JANE BEER 'Brave and brilliant’ GEORGE MONBIOT 'Timely and rousing' THE TIMES For centuries we’ve 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. They’re even paid billions of pounds of public money to be good stewards. But what happens when they just don’t 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 nation’s wild places, and how we can treat them with the awe and attention they deserve. It’s 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. 'Urgent and essential' CAROLINE LUCAS 'Exhilarating, insightful' LEE SCHOFIELD

‘Brave and brilliant Guy Shrubsole tackles a subject as crucial as it is neglected, and succeeds magnificently’ George Monbiot

‘This book beautifully subverts the central orthodoxy of England, that owning land is the only way to care for it. Rather than being against landowners, its message is one of hope and inclusion for every one of us, that the welfare of the land has always been the interest, expertise and responsibility of its communities’ Nick Hayes, author of The Book of Trespass

‘Guy Shrubsole has done it again, shining his blazing torch on the injustice and greed that twists the natural world out of shape. Exhilarating, insightful and bristling with rightful indignation, this is a book that will ignite the debate about our broken relationship with the land like never before’ Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell

'Shrubsole sets out a bold, new social contract between landowner and landless to address the challenges of the 21st century. Authoritative and well-researched, this is a most important book, essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of an environment we must – somehow – all share' Marion Shoard

'A groundplan to recover England’s green and pleasant land' Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul

'A clarion call for a more joined up approach to land use – and one that considers the responsibilities as well as the rights of land ownership. Shrubsole has the belly fire of a campaigner but the precision of an historian. This book should be on the reading list of any new Secretary of State thinking about land use’ Roger Mortlock, Chief Executive, The Countryside Charity

Guy Shrubsole is an environmental campaigner and writer. He is the author of Who Owns England?, an instant Sunday Times bestseller, and The Lost Rainforests of Britain, which won the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation and was shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society Literary Prize. For the past decade and a half Guy has campaigned on the climate and nature crises, working for a wide range of organisations from Friends of the Earth and the Right to Roam campaign, to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He lives in Devon.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780008651770
Title	The Lie of the Land
Author	Guy Shrubsole
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	HarperCollins Publishers
Year published	2024-09-12
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable