The Lie of the Land - How a Tiny Group of Landowners Wrecked the Countryside, and How the Public Can Restore it

A trenchant critique of land stewardship in the UK and how large landowners are responsible for the destruction and degradation of huge swathes of the countryside, Shrubsole's urgent volume also shines a spotlight on the farmers and community groups fighting against such rank injustice.

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.