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The Savage Landscape: An Evolution of Wilderness
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Islands of Abandonment, comes a new book about our relationship to the natural world.
This book takes us into the wild – deep into dark forests, to the top of mountains and into the heart of deserts. It addresses our deep yearnings to be awed and inspired by landscapes that remain beyond our reach and examines what nature gets up to in the absence of humans.
In 10 chapters, each loosely structured around a visit to some of the world’s wildest and most invigorating landscapes, the book asks provocative questions about the nature of wilderness and how wild places might best be appreciated or preserved.
These locations have been chosen for their physical beauty, their perceived isolation, and the moral or emotional complexity of the human stories that can be found there. In this search for wilderness, we will meet ascetics in search of theophany in the desert; lonely shepherds seeing off wolves under the stars; missionaries preaching from shacks deep in the jungle; wise lamas meditating under lofty mountain peaks.
This book takes us into the wild – deep into dark forests, to the top of mountains and into the heart of deserts. It addresses our deep yearnings to be awed and inspired by landscapes that remain beyond our reach and examines what nature gets up to in the absence of humans.
In 10 chapters, each loosely structured around a visit to some of the world’s wildest and most invigorating landscapes, the book asks provocative questions about the nature of wilderness and how wild places might best be appreciated or preserved.
These locations have been chosen for their physical beauty, their perceived isolation, and the moral or emotional complexity of the human stories that can be found there. In this search for wilderness, we will meet ascetics in search of theophany in the desert; lonely shepherds seeing off wolves under the stars; missionaries preaching from shacks deep in the jungle; wise lamas meditating under lofty mountain peaks.
440 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 19, 2026
With the exception of the last chapter, this is not nearly as strong as Flyn's first book, Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape. It is much more like a travel diary of her visits to various wildernesses around the world. Largely absent are the interactions with local people. She also, perhaps understandably, comes across much more as a tourist, whereas in her first book she wrote with much more authority about the islands she visited.
The last chapter is set in the Cairngorms, and much more the sort of writing that I enjoyed so much in IoA.
She remains, in my view, a young writer of great ability, and I look forward to her next project.
The last chapter is set in the Cairngorms, and much more the sort of writing that I enjoyed so much in IoA.
She remains, in my view, a young writer of great ability, and I look forward to her next project.
Wolves, bears, the wild beasts of all kinds: those that frighten us, thrill us, go bump in the night. It's what's missing, they say, from the tight-leashed land: those lamplight eyes in the dark.
Without them, without that element of fear, however faint or unformed, our relationship with the land is incomplete.
'If wildlife is removed,' the environmental historian Roderick Nash has argued, 'although everything else remains visibly the same, the intensity of the sense of wilderness is diminished!’
In other words: the fear is a part of it.
July 23, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting collection of writing on the nature of wilderness and its ever-changing definition, and if you enjoy travel writing like I do then you would like this since the author visits so many remote places herself over the course of this book.
From the Antarctic, to the dense jungles of central Africa, to the Himalayas, Yellowstone, deserts, the open ocean and even deep in a submarine, she goes in search of that awe-inducing feeling that only "true wilderness" can give. What she finds is that this concept of wilderness may not really exist, and raises important questions about who exactly is allowed to exist in these remote places, with the long global history of land grabbing and the removal of indigenous communities to create national parks for tourists, and our systematic rejection of traditional methods of land management.
She also found traces of humanity everywhere, for example even the isolated cabins in the Antarctic, and of course the large tourist boat she reached this continent with always looming in the background. I liked her reflection on what this all means for our complicated definition of wilderness and how we then should address its protection.
This was an interesting collection of writing on the nature of wilderness and its ever-changing definition, and if you enjoy travel writing like I do then you would like this since the author visits so many remote places herself over the course of this book.
From the Antarctic, to the dense jungles of central Africa, to the Himalayas, Yellowstone, deserts, the open ocean and even deep in a submarine, she goes in search of that awe-inducing feeling that only "true wilderness" can give. What she finds is that this concept of wilderness may not really exist, and raises important questions about who exactly is allowed to exist in these remote places, with the long global history of land grabbing and the removal of indigenous communities to create national parks for tourists, and our systematic rejection of traditional methods of land management.
She also found traces of humanity everywhere, for example even the isolated cabins in the Antarctic, and of course the large tourist boat she reached this continent with always looming in the background. I liked her reflection on what this all means for our complicated definition of wilderness and how we then should address its protection.
May 24, 2026
A non-fiction book which explores wilderness, or the places one might see as wilderness. We follow the author to some truly magical places and the descriptions were wonderful, I could really see them in my mind and wanted to find out more. Antarctica, Iceland, the forests of Romania, Yellowstone National Park, the Amazon rainforest, the Scottish Highlands, only to name a few.
This was very educational for me. An interesting, thought provoking read that is asking questions around what is conservation of wilderness and nature, how we can achieve that. I love nature and the idea of vast wilderness, what that means and how different this can look. Some of the aspects of wilderness and nature conservation were entirely new to me and I enjoyed learning about these.
I listened to this on audio and with the author narrating it herself it felt extra special. There are also some great pictures in the physical copy.
A truly fascinating, informative and interesting non-fiction read. I highly recommend!
This was very educational for me. An interesting, thought provoking read that is asking questions around what is conservation of wilderness and nature, how we can achieve that. I love nature and the idea of vast wilderness, what that means and how different this can look. Some of the aspects of wilderness and nature conservation were entirely new to me and I enjoyed learning about these.
I listened to this on audio and with the author narrating it herself it felt extra special. There are also some great pictures in the physical copy.
A truly fascinating, informative and interesting non-fiction read. I highly recommend!
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: A lyrical exploration of the world’s wildest, most forbiddingly remote places—and the humans who have always been there, by an award-winning and critically acclaimed writer
From the blacksand beaches of Iceland, to river crossings deep in the Amazon jungle, to the barren beauty of Antarctica, wilderness is a powerful, ancient concept, lying at the intersection of landscape, philosophy, and ecology. And for thousands of years, people have sought out uncontrolled, unknown, or uncharted nature in search of religious epiphany, self-actualization, and an escape from modern life. More recently these “pristine” places have been seen as the subject of a last effort to repair a planet imperiled by humans.
But as award-winning writer Cal Flyn traverses the most forbidding, untamed and inhospitable wild lands—the supposedly uninhabited wilds of the world—she finds that such truly untouched lands don't Nearly every wilderness has been or is actively inhabited by humans. Here we meet ascetics in search of theophany in the desert; lonely shepherds running off wolves under the stars; missionaries preaching from shacks deep in the jungle; wise lamas meditating under lofty mountain peaks.
The Savage Landscape takes us into these breathtaking wilds—deep into dark forests, to the tops of mountains, and into the hearts of deserts—asking provocative questions about the nature of wilderness, its preservation, and its meaning.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Travel writing in the poetic mode:
In the course of seeking out wilderness, Author Flyn makes the not-new case that "wilderness" is a societal construcy, it's about defining who gets to go where in the end..."wilderness" is reserved, apart from daily use for the great mass of people.
It's beautifully written...see quote above...but peculiarly impersonal. It's her musings, it's entirely about her responses to and thoughts about places the majority can never access. And, as the world shrinks and we humans use more and more of it for ourselves, a privileged subset of us have decided to define pieces of the world as "wild" thus off limits to the likes of you. You happen to live there? Move. This is wilderness now. I didn't see a lot of depth in her presentation of the responses to these diktats from indigenous people, but those stories are huge, deep, and outside this impressionist work's scope. I was sent off to look for the displaced's voices elsewhere—and a salutary reminder it was.
Auhor Flyn goes deep enough to present the inevitable, fundamentally irresolvable tension between the needs od humanity and the requirements of the planet's flora and animalia. It's not the first time I've read this story...Annie Dillard was my own first encounter with poetic prose telling nature's side of the story...but it is very well-made indeed.
Anyone who rethinks the relationship of human and nature has taken on an immense task, one that can't be finished, or even really grasped, in one book. Or one lifetime. We're always in need of people who look over the edges, across the horizons, under the fences, and tell us about what they saw and what they think it means. It's a perspective check...it's never possible for one person to see through all the other eyes there are looking at the world, perceiving it as we don't, even can't. It's the ultimate purpose of reading, acquiring those other perspectives in the best (albeit necessarily incomplete and skewed) way we can.
You know the lore of the woods in the 21st century, you most likely consume the stories about the denizens of the wild places on your TV. You most likely are watching vampire and werewolf media all the time. That mode of seeing these spaces has roots. Let Author Flyn show them to you, describe their planting and limn their growth for you; it will likely change how, even what, you see.
That's the point of reading, after all.
The Publisher Says: A lyrical exploration of the world’s wildest, most forbiddingly remote places—and the humans who have always been there, by an award-winning and critically acclaimed writer
From the blacksand beaches of Iceland, to river crossings deep in the Amazon jungle, to the barren beauty of Antarctica, wilderness is a powerful, ancient concept, lying at the intersection of landscape, philosophy, and ecology. And for thousands of years, people have sought out uncontrolled, unknown, or uncharted nature in search of religious epiphany, self-actualization, and an escape from modern life. More recently these “pristine” places have been seen as the subject of a last effort to repair a planet imperiled by humans.
But as award-winning writer Cal Flyn traverses the most forbidding, untamed and inhospitable wild lands—the supposedly uninhabited wilds of the world—she finds that such truly untouched lands don't Nearly every wilderness has been or is actively inhabited by humans. Here we meet ascetics in search of theophany in the desert; lonely shepherds running off wolves under the stars; missionaries preaching from shacks deep in the jungle; wise lamas meditating under lofty mountain peaks.
The Savage Landscape takes us into these breathtaking wilds—deep into dark forests, to the tops of mountains, and into the hearts of deserts—asking provocative questions about the nature of wilderness, its preservation, and its meaning.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Travel writing in the poetic mode:
Wolves, bears, the wild beasts of all kinds: those that frighten us, thrill us, go bump in the night. It's what's missing, they say, from the tight-leashed land: those lamplight eyes in the dark.
Without them, without that element of fear, however faint or unformed, our relationship with the land is incomplete.
'If wildlife is removed,' the environmental historian Roderick Nash has argued, 'although everything else remains visibly the same, the intensity of the sense of wilderness is diminished!’
In other words: the fear is a part of it.
In the course of seeking out wilderness, Author Flyn makes the not-new case that "wilderness" is a societal construcy, it's about defining who gets to go where in the end..."wilderness" is reserved, apart from daily use for the great mass of people.
It's beautifully written...see quote above...but peculiarly impersonal. It's her musings, it's entirely about her responses to and thoughts about places the majority can never access. And, as the world shrinks and we humans use more and more of it for ourselves, a privileged subset of us have decided to define pieces of the world as "wild" thus off limits to the likes of you. You happen to live there? Move. This is wilderness now. I didn't see a lot of depth in her presentation of the responses to these diktats from indigenous people, but those stories are huge, deep, and outside this impressionist work's scope. I was sent off to look for the displaced's voices elsewhere—and a salutary reminder it was.
Auhor Flyn goes deep enough to present the inevitable, fundamentally irresolvable tension between the needs od humanity and the requirements of the planet's flora and animalia. It's not the first time I've read this story...Annie Dillard was my own first encounter with poetic prose telling nature's side of the story...but it is very well-made indeed.
Anyone who rethinks the relationship of human and nature has taken on an immense task, one that can't be finished, or even really grasped, in one book. Or one lifetime. We're always in need of people who look over the edges, across the horizons, under the fences, and tell us about what they saw and what they think it means. It's a perspective check...it's never possible for one person to see through all the other eyes there are looking at the world, perceiving it as we don't, even can't. It's the ultimate purpose of reading, acquiring those other perspectives in the best (albeit necessarily incomplete and skewed) way we can.
You know the lore of the woods in the 21st century, you most likely consume the stories about the denizens of the wild places on your TV. You most likely are watching vampire and werewolf media all the time. That mode of seeing these spaces has roots. Let Author Flyn show them to you, describe their planting and limn their growth for you; it will likely change how, even what, you see.
That's the point of reading, after all.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Reassess: to think again about something in order to decide if you should change the way you feel about it or deal with it.
The Author prods the Reader to reassess their assumptions about what is the wilderness and who defines it. From America's pre-eminent National Park, Yellowstone, to the arid jungles of the Amazon, and the juxtaposition between the animals in the Safari and the humans alongside them, this book poses quite a number of provocative questions.
He places the Reader 'boots on the ground' as he talks to contradictions. For example, he walks with the American hunters 'paying' to hunt Game yet that same money collected goes to conservationist efforts. Or, when he resides with the people in the Amazon one hand acknowledging their cultural belief system (see: comingling ashes of a loved one with a food source) yet judging the same people clamoring for modern day equipment like the chainsaw.
Where the Author loses ground with this Reader was in the heavy evocation of the dead, male philosophers (see: Immanuel Kant). Knew that philosophy was to be a part of the read but felt time spent too heavily on it.
Moreover, believe that the references to preeminent (albeit, contradictory) conservationists like Teddy Roosevelt, landscape artists like Ansel Adams, will have sufficed to make his points. Then felt that the book, at times, lost focus by trying to pack in too much.
This ARC was provided by the publisher, Viking Penguin | Viking via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
#TheSavageLandscape #NetGalley
The Author prods the Reader to reassess their assumptions about what is the wilderness and who defines it. From America's pre-eminent National Park, Yellowstone, to the arid jungles of the Amazon, and the juxtaposition between the animals in the Safari and the humans alongside them, this book poses quite a number of provocative questions.
He places the Reader 'boots on the ground' as he talks to contradictions. For example, he walks with the American hunters 'paying' to hunt Game yet that same money collected goes to conservationist efforts. Or, when he resides with the people in the Amazon one hand acknowledging their cultural belief system (see: comingling ashes of a loved one with a food source) yet judging the same people clamoring for modern day equipment like the chainsaw.
Where the Author loses ground with this Reader was in the heavy evocation of the dead, male philosophers (see: Immanuel Kant). Knew that philosophy was to be a part of the read but felt time spent too heavily on it.
Moreover, believe that the references to preeminent (albeit, contradictory) conservationists like Teddy Roosevelt, landscape artists like Ansel Adams, will have sufficed to make his points. Then felt that the book, at times, lost focus by trying to pack in too much.
This ARC was provided by the publisher, Viking Penguin | Viking via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
#TheSavageLandscape #NetGalley
Review of advance copy
The Savage Landscape is a thoughtful book about the nature of wilderness, what it is and where it starts and ends. Cal Flyn has been around the globe to some very remote places to sample some of today's wildernesses. Wilderness is very much a "civilised" human concept. Animals and primitive humans don't consider themselves as living in the wilderness: it just is. Very few parts of the globe are truly untouched by human hands, even if it's indirect.
Wilderness is a word which several religions have adopted and can be found in both testaments. That's where Flyn starts her book, and where it ends too: humans going into the wilderness to connect with themselves and get away from distractions. She also visits many "wildernesses" which have been constructed to meet the needs of (rich) humans, such as nature reserves. (Poor) humans have often been turfed out of their homes in order to create a wilderness, and even today's rewildings are very much still managed and have to conform to local laws.
Like her previous book Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape, also about places where few people live, it's very well written, and the author has been everywhere she writes about. Even Antarctica and remote oceans are not out of bounds. Had she been able to go into space, no doubt that would have been another chapter.
Wilderness is a word which several religions have adopted and can be found in both testaments. That's where Flyn starts her book, and where it ends too: humans going into the wilderness to connect with themselves and get away from distractions. She also visits many "wildernesses" which have been constructed to meet the needs of (rich) humans, such as nature reserves. (Poor) humans have often been turfed out of their homes in order to create a wilderness, and even today's rewildings are very much still managed and have to conform to local laws.
Like her previous book Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape, also about places where few people live, it's very well written, and the author has been everywhere she writes about. Even Antarctica and remote oceans are not out of bounds. Had she been able to go into space, no doubt that would have been another chapter.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cal Flyn begins this book by asking a question: what is “wilderness?” Is it land untouched by humans? Land with little connection to the “civilized” world? Land where humans can connect with raw nature? To try and study this question, Flyn goes to the literal ends (and heights, and depths) of the earth, picking each destination as a way to study different ways humans have defined wilderness in different times and cultures. Wilderness as the home of wild people and animals, wilderness as protected area, wilderness as uncharted territory, wilderness as sacred ground.
Her trips to the Amazonian jungle, Antarctica, the depths of an ocean trench, the top of a mountain which housed a Buddhist lama, brought up more questions: is there any place on earth or near space that has not been touched by humans? What is our responsibility toward wilderness? Should we work actively to preserve it (with inevitable mistakes along the way) or should we just let it be (and risk natural consequences)? Can we look at wilderness as sacred space, or should we allow people to mine asteroids for rare minerals?
Flyn’s extensive research into each place she visits is impressive. Along with her personal observations and experiences, she brings in knowledge about indigenous cultures, the history of each place, and much more. She also writes with scientific knowledge but also lyrical, sometimes almost poetic awe for what she sees. It’s an amazing love song to our planet.
Many thanks to Viking and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance reader’s copy. All opinions are my own,
Her trips to the Amazonian jungle, Antarctica, the depths of an ocean trench, the top of a mountain which housed a Buddhist lama, brought up more questions: is there any place on earth or near space that has not been touched by humans? What is our responsibility toward wilderness? Should we work actively to preserve it (with inevitable mistakes along the way) or should we just let it be (and risk natural consequences)? Can we look at wilderness as sacred space, or should we allow people to mine asteroids for rare minerals?
Flyn’s extensive research into each place she visits is impressive. Along with her personal observations and experiences, she brings in knowledge about indigenous cultures, the history of each place, and much more. She also writes with scientific knowledge but also lyrical, sometimes almost poetic awe for what she sees. It’s an amazing love song to our planet.
Many thanks to Viking and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance reader’s copy. All opinions are my own,
June 6, 2026
There are a few books - and it probably is only a few - that even within the first few pages you begin to understand that this is one you’ll be returning to any number of times. Nan Shepherd’s 'The Living Mountain' is one such; Cal’s previous book 'Islands of Abandonment' has already been added to my own short list; a list to which 'The Savage Landscape' will become an addition.
Invariably, on closing the book for a while, your first reflection will likely be that something has been learnt; the second will be that there will be more to come when you next pick it up. I’m thinking that many will have read Cal’s previous book 'Islands of Abandonment'; for those who haven’t I would definitely recommend adding it to your ‘what to read next’ list.
Cal is a writer who likes to confront difficult subjects (and frequently situations) both figuratively and literally. The task of following 'Islands of Abandonment' would have been a daunting one, but that high bar has been met. If I had to summarise (not an easy ask when trying to do justice to both book and author) I would probably say be prepared to have perceptions challenged, sometimes altered, and all while enjoying the originality and quality of the writing.
Invariably, on closing the book for a while, your first reflection will likely be that something has been learnt; the second will be that there will be more to come when you next pick it up. I’m thinking that many will have read Cal’s previous book 'Islands of Abandonment'; for those who haven’t I would definitely recommend adding it to your ‘what to read next’ list.
Cal is a writer who likes to confront difficult subjects (and frequently situations) both figuratively and literally. The task of following 'Islands of Abandonment' would have been a daunting one, but that high bar has been met. If I had to summarise (not an easy ask when trying to do justice to both book and author) I would probably say be prepared to have perceptions challenged, sometimes altered, and all while enjoying the originality and quality of the writing.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I'm going to start by admitting that i never finished this book. it was just too dry for me. i was expecting something that was a lot more adventure oriented, tales of the wilderness told first hand but instead i got a rather rambling dissertation on the history of various religions and their connection to the desert. and even when i skipped forward to the next chapter, it was a rambling, wordy, and dull. it read more like a textbook than a biography/memoir. if you like the clinical writing of a textbook then you will probably like this book a lot more than i did, but it really just wasn't for me. however, it was jam packed full of some really amazing research, and had some fantastic things to say about the borders between civilization and wilderness, so while i would normally give a book i didn't like 3 stars, this one is getting 4 simply because it is a fantastic book for a different audience. i'll likely pick up the Audiobook on release date and try that and see if it holds my attention more. i'm fairly sure it will depending on the narrator.
Thank you to Viking Penguin | Viking and Netgalley for this ARC
Thank you to Viking Penguin | Viking and Netgalley for this ARC
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Really loved this at first, and was well on the way to giving it a full five stars. Beautifully written, spiritual but not cloyingly so, and full of incredibly challenging ideas and revelations about the cost of conservation. The first three quarters of the book is some of the most enjoyable I've read in a while.
And then, for me at least, it just trailed off a bit. I understood the need to go to the Antarctic but found it somewhat uninteresting after the earlier chapters. The chapter Gods of the High ground just lacked focus and I can barely remember it. And the conclusion didn't bring it all together in the way it could have. It just sort of drifted away from me.
I'd still recommend it though, the failings may be mine and there's a lot of really good, thought provoking stuff here. Also - what a great idea for a book!
And then, for me at least, it just trailed off a bit. I understood the need to go to the Antarctic but found it somewhat uninteresting after the earlier chapters. The chapter Gods of the High ground just lacked focus and I can barely remember it. And the conclusion didn't bring it all together in the way it could have. It just sort of drifted away from me.
I'd still recommend it though, the failings may be mine and there's a lot of really good, thought provoking stuff here. Also - what a great idea for a book!
May 10, 2026
A beautifully written and profound meditation on what wilderness is (does it even exist?) and what it means for both its inhabitants (and yes, they do or did exist) and for the rest of us.
Those of us who have read Cal Flyn’s previous book “Islands of Abandonment” (and if you haven’t you must) will know that with her as our guide she will take us to extraordinary places (from Mount Sinai to Antarctica via the Amazon and many other points in between) write brilliantly about what she is seeing, learning, experiencing and thinking, get herself into a variety of scrapes and help us think about things in a new light.
Even more philosophically deep, personally revealing and heartfelt that her previous book, “The Savage Landscape” is a major achievement. And a gripping read. Can’t recommend it highly
enough.”
Those of us who have read Cal Flyn’s previous book “Islands of Abandonment” (and if you haven’t you must) will know that with her as our guide she will take us to extraordinary places (from Mount Sinai to Antarctica via the Amazon and many other points in between) write brilliantly about what she is seeing, learning, experiencing and thinking, get herself into a variety of scrapes and help us think about things in a new light.
Even more philosophically deep, personally revealing and heartfelt that her previous book, “The Savage Landscape” is a major achievement. And a gripping read. Can’t recommend it highly
enough.”
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A beautiful, insightful book. It was a perfect companion during my two weeks of hiking in Scotland.
What is wilderness? The author seeks the answer not only in her own journeys „to some of the world’s wildest and most invigorating landscapes” but also in philosophy, history, anthropology and psychology. She finds fascinating links to colonialism, nature conservation and cartography. I learnt a lot from it and it made me think.
The answer is not straight forward but looking for it is worthwhile - because, as the author writes, “wilderness is an enchanting delusion, a bewildering confrontation with the non-human, and ultimately a beautiful ideal whose mystical, transcendent qualities retain the power to inspire us to save our planet.”
Thanks to the publisher, Viking Penguin, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
What is wilderness? The author seeks the answer not only in her own journeys „to some of the world’s wildest and most invigorating landscapes” but also in philosophy, history, anthropology and psychology. She finds fascinating links to colonialism, nature conservation and cartography. I learnt a lot from it and it made me think.
The answer is not straight forward but looking for it is worthwhile - because, as the author writes, “wilderness is an enchanting delusion, a bewildering confrontation with the non-human, and ultimately a beautiful ideal whose mystical, transcendent qualities retain the power to inspire us to save our planet.”
Thanks to the publisher, Viking Penguin, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
June 8, 2026
A deeply thoughtful exploration of the concept of wilderness that takes you on physical journey through time and across continents. The book calmly confronts uncomfortable realities and questions assumptions about wilderness, nature and the environment that have been widely accepted, even promoted, for decades. There is a clear focus on the importance of indigenous people and communities. Full of fascinating detail, for me the chapters on Romania, the Amazon and Yellowstone were highlights.
June 15, 2026
Boiling over with thought-provoking observations, The Savage Landscape offers a discomfiting yet necessary look at the tensions and contradictions that underlie nature conservation. Read my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2026...
June 6, 2026
This must be one of the best modern books on the concept of Wilderness.
Cal Flynn articulates everything I have ever thought but never been able to verbalise about the wild in beautiful, factual and metaphysical way.
Cal Flynn articulates everything I have ever thought but never been able to verbalise about the wild in beautiful, factual and metaphysical way.
Review of advance copy
Fabulous
Review of advance copy
This took quite a long time to read as i found it thought provoking and i needed to be in the right mood to challenge opinions. It's good. very good.
August 6, 2026
Very thought provoking and beautifully written
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews