Is A River Alive?

Name: Is A River Alive?
Brand: Penguin Books Ltd
Price: 27.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder

Read by: Robert Macfarlane

Author: Robert Macfarlane

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At a Glance

Format
Digital Audiobook

Duration
10:41.16

Available: 1st May 2025

Digital Audiobook

$27.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $7.00 with

Available: 1st May 2025

Preorder. Download available after release.

**Brought to you by Penguin.

From celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective-shifting new book - which answers a resounding yes to the question of its title.**

At its heart is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings - who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Is a River Alive? takes the reader on an exhilarating exploration of the past, present and futures of this ancient, urgent concept.

The book flows first to northern Ecuador, where a miraculous cloud-forest and its rivers are threatened by goldmining.

Then, to the wounded rivers, creeks and lagoons of southern India, where a desperate battle to save the lives of these waterbodies is under way.

And finally, to north-eastern Quebec, where a spectacular wild river - the Mutehekau or Magpie - is being defended from death by damming in a river-rights campaign.

At once Macfarlane's most personal and most political book to date, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, spark debates and lead us to the revelation that our fate flows with that of rivers - and always has.