Upland: The Strange History and Vital Future of Britain’s Mountains

by Ed Douglas

Britain's mountains have inspired poets, painters and scientists and they are a cornerstone of our cultural narrative and our national identity. Yet they are also at the forefront of agricultural and climate change policy, in a tug of war between factions seeking preservation and economic development. Touching on their formation and prehistory, Upland describes how mountains were transformed through the centuries, the conflicts and reforms that shaped their landscapes and how the industrial revolution made their wide open spaces so important to the wealth of the nation.

Upland will tell the story of the kings, monks, travellers, shepherds, poets, engineers, soldiers, explorers, visionaries and campaigners who made Britain's mountains what they are today. It will unpick the centuries of war and the political framework that allowed these significant tracts of land to remain in the hands of a few landowners, the human cost of sudden depopulation in waves of clearances, the slow and then rapid decline of mountain environments and their central place in adapting to the challenges of a changing climate and a growing population.

Most of all, Upland will capture the enduring beauty of these treasured landscapes and explore why they mean so much to us.

Genres: Nonfiction

528 pages, Hardcover

First published July 9, 2026

About the author

Ed Douglas is a writer and journalist with a passion for the wilder corners of the natural world. A former editor of the Alpine Journal, a columnist for Climber and The Guardian, Ed is an enthusiastic amateur climber and mountain traveller, with a particular interest in the Himalaya