Is a River Alive?

From the celebrated writer and observer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective-shifting new book â" 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 â" who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Inspired by the activists, artists and lawmakers of the young âRights of Natureâ movement, Macfarlane takes the reader on an exhilarating exploration of the past, present and futures of this ancient, urgent concept.

Is a River Alive? flows like water from the mountains to the sea, over three major journeys:
The first is to northern Ecuador, where a miraculous cloud-forest and its rivers are threatened with destruction by gold-mining.

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

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

Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream who rises a mile from Macfarlaneâs house, and flows through his own years and days.

Passionate, immersive and revelatory, Is a River Alive? is at once Macfarlaneâs most personal and most political book to date. It is a book that will open hearts, spark debates and challenge perspectives. Lit throughout by other minds and voices, it invites us radically to reimagine not only rivers but also life itself. At the centre of this vital, beautiful book is the recognition that our fate flows with that of rivers â" and always has.

''He is the great nature writer, and nature poet, of this generation'' Wall Street Journal

âA naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler, a writer whose ideas and reach far transcend the physical region he exploresâ The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Robert Macfarlane is the author of Mountains of the Mind, The Wild Places, The Old Ways, Landmarks, and The Lost Words, co-created with Jackie Morris. Mountains of the Mind won the Guardian First Book Award and the Somerset Maugham Award and The Wild Places won the Boardman-Tasker Award. Both books have been adapted for television by the BBC. The Lost Words won the Books Are My Bag Beautiful Book Award and the Hay Festival Book of the Year. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and writes on environmentalism, literature and travel for publications including the Guardian, the Sunday Times and The New York Times.