The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness

by Cal Flyn

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Travel, Environment, History, Science, Audiobook

448 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2026

Reviews

[Andy Weston]

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.

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.

[jeremy]

all of which is to say: the wilderness cannot be mapped, but maps, have, nevertheless, been drawn.

as she did in her fantsastic islands of abandonment, scottish writer cal flyn once more blends exquisite prose, a patient and unyielding curiosity, and a poet-philosopher's open-minded perspective to less-trod landscapes. this time visiting wilderness areas all around the globe (desert, jungle, mountain, forest, antarctic, oceanic, et al.), flyn examines different conceptions of what wilderness itself even means and the ways in which they currently exist in some of the world's remotest places. the savage landscape is utterly engrossing and flyn an amazing, thoughtful guide to the sublimity and wonder of nature, as well as the compelling questions around stewardship, conservation, and ever-encroaching rapacity.

true savages don't come dressed in skins or bearing spears. they wear fatigues, dress uniforms, blazers, dinner jackets. they carry briefcases, request progress reports, draw up plans of attack. they walk among us. in their inability to recognise the humanity of others, they reveal how their own must be lacking.

[Lita]

Cal Flyn once again took me on a trip around the world while talking about a topic close to my heart - nature and wilderness. From the desert to the Amazonian rainforest, from the mountaintop to the deep sea, from volcanic eruptions to ice sheets in Antarctica, the author explores different facets of human understanding and concept of wilderness. It's a special skill to write a non-fiction book as a story that takes the reader on a journey of discovery. And it's refreshing to engage with an author's perspective that doesn't shy away from harsh truths in our quest to 'save' and 'protect' the wilderness. Are we truly protecting something by shutting out indigenous people who have lived in sync with local habitats for centuries? Who has better insights about a place - scientists or local people? Just because we can, should we really risk disturbing deep-sea ecosystems for the sake of progress without knowing what the consequences could be? These are some of the questions that are staying with me after reading this book. 

If I were really picky, I could point out that not all storylines had the same degree of depth or impact, but I won't do that. They still contributed to the richness of contexts and perspectives that are uniquely diverse. And it will definitely be one of the best reads of 2026.

[Kelli]

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.

[one.too.many.books]

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!

[Keenan]

How is the wilderness defined? Are we destined to be forever at odds with nature? Cal Flyn explores in a sort of touristy way the various reaches of the planet, talking with tribes in Africa, submersible enthusiasts, and religious nomads at the base of Sinai. The scope is a bit wider and more diluted compared to the absolutely wonderful Islands of Abandonment but it's nonetheless an insightful and lovely read. Exciting to see what she comes out with next!

[Kerry Pickens]

I received this book as an ARC and I liked it well enough to add another of the author’s books to my reading pile. She writes very descriptively about a range of subjects and has the knack for making the mundane interesting.

[Richard Derus]

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:

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.

[Shelly Fabian]

I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway.

This book is non-fiction. It contains stories of adventure, different cultures, controversies, and the ups and downs of human interactions with our land/world/wildernesses.

“In cutting down my routine to its most simplistic, and my belongings to their most minimal - two nested pots, a roll mat, tent, sleeping bag, map - I have luxuriated in the basic elements of life and my capacity to use them.”

“The US Wilderness Act of 1964 codified wilderness as a region ‘untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain’”

“environmental conditions compound emotional responses”

“if you live in a wild place, you live by wild rules”

“To read a river is an art.”

“‘shabono’, a huge, ring-shaped structure woven from banana leaves that served as a shared shelter for all residents.”

“His body would be burned. The ashes and bones would then be ground down and stored in a carved out gourd. When the bananas came into season, in a few months’ time, the family would pick them, mash them into a soup and then mix this together with the ashes of their dead relative. And then they would eat him.”

“True savages don’t come dressed in skins or bearing spears. They wear fatigues, dress uniforms, blazers, dinner jackets. They carry briefcases, request progress reports, draw up plan of attack. They walk among us. In their ability to recognize the humanity of others, they reveal how their own must be lacking.”

“how we should value human life: should we consider the lives of animals and plants to be equal in weight to - or potentially, in the case of endangered species, say, greater than - those of our fellow people? When push comes to shove, who gets elbowed off the ark?”

“ What I felt, I reflected, was a complex of emotions, overwhelmingly dominated by something like remorse. Or a second-hand embarrassment, on behalf of my people, my species. We had barely arrived and just look at how we were littering up the place!”

“One must be kind and respectful, thinking always of the whole. Be kind unto the animals, he said, and the animals will come to you. He meant this, literally.”

“The more we learn about the world, the universe, the species of this Earth - the ways by which they think and know the world - the more we come to realize we don’t know them at all.”

[J.Istsfor Manity]

I went into the wilderness then, and at other times, because I wanted to live my life more intensely. I have found that in trading day-to-day concerns for more fundamental questions of safety, survival, navigation and supplies I could tap into a rawer, more authentic, more capable, part of myself. In cutting down my routine to its most simplistic, and my belongings to their most minimal – two nested pots, a roll mat, tent, Sleeping bag, map – I have luxuriated in the basic elements of life and my capacity to use them. In setting my own fire, chopping my own wood, making my home on the mountainside or in the forest, learning to keep myself warm and dry in all weathers — sometimes extreme — I have found a calmness and a clarity often missing from the rest of my life. In scaling high ridges or narrow precipices, in sharing a habitat with wild and sometimes dangerous animals, I have found a new flavour of fear and how to live with it. By seeking out situations in which there is no easy escape route, I have learned, sometimes with difficulty, how to cope without one.

•••

For when we talk about wilderness we are really talking about our tortured relationship with the natural world as a whole: our antagonism to it, fear of it, and - yes - our love for it too.

•••

And it seems that in this I am not alone.
Wilderness is a powerful, ancient concept, which lies at the intersection of landscape, philosophy and ecology. It is a place where the human is brought into confrontation with all that is non-human, and is challenged and changed as a result. For thousands of years people have sought out regions of uncontrolled, unknown or uncharted nature in search of religious epiphany, self-actualisation and an escape from what was to them modern life. Wilderness has been the scene of exploration, both physical and psychological, as well as a site of first contacts, privations, moral catastrophes and heroics.

•••

We are, all of us, moving through the void.
— Cal Flyn / The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness 

[Rob Sedgwick]

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.

[Ellen]

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,

[Elena L.]

[ 4.5/5 stars ]

There's something about nature writing that reaches deep into my heart. In THE SAVAGE LANDSCAPE, Fly invites us to venture into the wilderness, the nature that unfortunately isn't uncharted as it grieves ownership/land right disputes. From Amazonian rainforest to Antarctica (I personally loved reading parts in Ushuaia), the words transport us to the world's wildest landscapes, its rawness that embodies a sense of freedom, switching our focus from daily concerns to a matter of survival and allowing us to find calmness and clarity in the simplicity.

Yet this book doesn't solely explore the wilderness, but also dissects the relationship and boundary between human and nature, in the way wilderness preservation confronts with colonialism and ambition and furthermore, how nature conservation is anchored in local community's rites, religion and instinct. Infused with cultural and historical context, one is able to absorb the value of community and the inhabitants of wilderness while witnesses the paradox between enchanting x untouched. The journey of discovery might sound meandering, however, the wilderness narrative renders a deep thinking into environmental action and social justice.

"If wilderness does not exist, then how does it have such a hold over us?"

THE SAVAGE LANDSCAPE is a psychological exploration, an informative and enlightening non fiction that I came to appreciate and I hope people read.

[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Viking books . All opinions are my own ]

[Olderlight]

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.

[Foxx Writer]

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

[Sean Farrell]

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!

[Timothy Beecroft]

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.”

[Ula Tardigrade]

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.

[Sara]

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.

[Lynne]

Travel adventure with a thoughtful look at what we mean when we say "wilderness" and how much of that is a result of colonial ideas about land and people. I definitely favored some chapters over others due to being places and landscapes I enjoyed. I was most surprised by how much I liked the chapter set in the Amazon Rainforest. I appreciated the focus on the people who live there. The book grew and grew on me as I read it.

[The Inquisitive Biologist]

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...

[Robert Nduati]

A well written book and moves effortlessly between the present and the past, as well as between different places. It has a reflective and meditative style that makes the story thoughtful and engaging. I loved being taken to the different wild places only to be shown they are wild to be but home to others.

[Chris]

I'd highly recommend this book and the previous book by Flyn Islands of Abandonment. There's perhaps a little less optimism in the Savage Landscape, a sort of a travelogue into a number of places that could be defined as wilderness, all seem to be tainted by some negative human footprint or corporate hand. Possibly a bit more philosophical, and a search for the meaning of wilderness.

[Caitlin]

Cal Flyn's books make you think a lot, learn a lot, and yet, her writing is so good and so thoughtful, it never feels forced or onerous, just a great blend of personal and research-based. Her latest is no exception. I enjoyed it immensely and will be talking and thinking about it for weeks and months to come.

[Nick]

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.

[Martish]

Really a collection of essays on different types of wilderness and some were better than others. As we were recently in Antarctica I especially enjoyed that one. The author also made some important points on balancing the interests of people and wilderness, not an easy thing to do.

[Mairead]

Fabulous

[Francis Pellow]

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.

[Peter Jones]

Very thought provoking and beautifully written

[Arend]

Thoughtful. Refreshed my eyes on the world.