‘Formidable work’ Robert Macfarlane
Who owns England?
Behind this simple question lies this country’s oldest and darkest secret. This is the history of how England’s elite came to own our land – from aristocrats and the church to businessmen and corporations – and an inspiring manifesto for how we can take control back.
This book has been a long time coming. Since 1086, in fact. For centuries, England’s Establishment have been able to cover up how they got their hands on millions of acres of common land, by building walls, burying surveys and more recently, sheltering behind offshore shell companies. But with the dawn of digital mapping and the Freedom of Information Act, they can no longer hide.
Trespassing through country estates and empty Mayfair mansions, writer and activist Guy Shrubsole has used these 21st Century tools to uncover a wealth of never-before-seen information about the people who own our land, in order to create the most comprehensive map of land ownership in England that has ever been made public.
From the Duke who owns the most expensive location on the Monopoly board to the MP who’s the biggest landowner in his county, he unearths truths concealed since the Domesday Book about who is really in charge of this country – at a time when Brexit is meant to be returning sovereignty to the people.
It’s time to expose the truth about who owns England – and finally take back our green and pleasant land.

Who Owns England?

Shrubsole, Guy

Business & Money

William Collins

'A formidable, brave and important book' Robert Macfarlane Who owns England? Behind this simple question lies this country's oldest and best-kept secret. This is the history of how England's elite came to own our land, and an inspiring manifesto for how to open up our countryside once more. This book has been a long time coming. Since 1086, in fact. For centuries, England's elite have covered up how they got their hands on millions of acres of our land, by constructing walls, burying surveys and more recently, sheltering behind offshore shell companies. But with the dawn of digital mapping and the Freedom of Information Act, it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to hide. Trespassing through tightly-guarded country estates, ecologically ravaged grouse moors and empty Mayfair mansions, writer and activist Guy Shrubsole has used these 21st century tools to uncover a wealth of never-before-seen information about the people who own our land, to create the most comprehensive map of land ownership in England that has ever been made public. From secret military islands to tunnels deep beneath London, Shrubsole unearths truths concealed since the Domesday Book about who is really in charge of this country - at a time when Brexit is meant to be returning sovereignty to the people. Melding history, politics and polemic, he vividly demonstrates how taking control of land ownership is key to tackling everything from the housing crisis to climate change - and even halting the erosion of our very democracy. It's time to expose the truth about who owns England - and finally take back our green and pleasant land.

Who Owns England?: How We Lost Our Land and How to Take It Back

Economics

The Lost Rainforests of Britain

‘If anyone was born to save Britain’s rainforests, it was Guy Shrubsole’ Sunday Times\nFrom the Sunday Times-bestselling author of Who Owns England?, a mesmerising chronicle of our forgotten rainforests – and an inspiring intervention to help restore them to the places they once were 
In 2020, writer and campaigner Guy Shrubsole moved from London to Devon. As he explored the wooded valleys, rivers and tors of Dartmoor, Guy discovered a spectacular habitat that he had never encountered before: temperate rainforest. Entranced, he would spend the coming months investigating the history, ecology and distribution of rainforests across England, Wales and Scotland. 
Britain, Guy discovered, was once a rainforest nation. 
This is the story of a unique habitat that has been so ravaged, most people today don’t realise it exists. Temperate rainforest may once have covered up to one-fifth of Britain and played host to a dazzling variety of luminous life-forms, inspiring Celtic druids, Welsh wizards, Romantic poets, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s most loved creations. Though only fragments now remain, they form a rare and internationally important habitat, home to lush ferns and beardy lichens, pine martens and pied flycatchers. But why are even environmentalists unaware of their existence? And how have we managed to so comprehensively excise them from our cultural memory? 
Taking the reader on an awe-inspiring journey through the Atlantic oakwoods and hazelwoods of the Western Highlands and the Lake District, down to the rainforests of Wales, Devon and Cornwall, The Lost Rainforests of Britain maps these under-recognised ecosystems in exquisite detail – but underlines that without immediate political and public support, we risk losing them from the landscape, and perhaps our collective memory, forever. A rich, elegiac and boundary-pushing feat of research and reportage, this is the extraordinary tale of one person’s quest to find Britain’s lost rainforests, and bring them back.

Science & Math

Earth Sciences

<h2>AS SEEN ON COUNTRYFILE</h2> <h2>The Sunday Times Science Book of the Year</h2> 'If anyone was born to save Britain's rainforests, it was Guy Shrubsole' Sunday Times Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society Literary Prize Temperate rainforest may once have covered up to one-fifth of Britain, inspiring Celtic druids, Welsh wizards, Romantic poets, and Arthur Conan Doyle's most loved creations. Though only fragments now remain, they are home to a dazzling variety of luminous life-forms. In this awe-inspiring investigation, Guy Shrubsole travels through the Western Highlands and the Lake District, down to the rainforests of Wales, Devon, and Cornwall to map these spectacular lost worlds for the first time. This is the extraordinary tale of one person's quest to find Britain's lost rainforests - and bring them back.

Religion & Spirituality

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shrubsole, Guy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shrubsole, Guy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shrubsole, Guy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Who Owns England?

Who Owns England?: How We Lost Our Land and How to Take It Back

The Lost Rainforests of Britain

The Lost Rainforests of Britain