An eloquent (and compulsively readable) reminder that, though we’re laying waste the world, nature still holds sway over much of the earth’s surface.” —Bill McKibben Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? That is the question that Robert Macfarlane poses to himself as he embarks on a series of breathtaking journeys through some of the archipelago’s most remarkable landscapes. He climbs, walks, and swims by day and spends his nights sleeping on cliff-tops and in ancient meadows and wildwoods. With elegance and passion he entwines history, memory, and landscape in a bewitching evocation of wildness and its vital importance. A unique travelogue that will intrigue readers of natural history and adventure, The Wild Placessolidifies Macfarlane’s reputation as a young writer to watch.

Robert Macfarlane is a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. His first book, Mountains of the Mind: Adventures in Reaching the Summit, won a number of prizes in England and was a New York Times Notable Book. He has contributed to numerous publications including The Times Literary Supplement and The London Review of Books.