The Lie of the Land cover art

The Lie of the Land

Who Really Cares for the Countryside?

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Lie of the Land

By: Guy Shrubsole
Narrated by: Guy Shrubsole
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

*A WATERSTONES AND GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2024*

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WESTMINSTER BOOK AWARDS*

'Both dynamite and medicine' AMY-JANE BEER

'It couldn't be more relevant' JAMES O'BRIEN

'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.

©2024 Guy Shrubsole (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
Ecosystems & Habitats Environment Politics & Government Rural

Critic Reviews

'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

'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

'Compellinga 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

What listeners say about The Lie of the Land

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.