Is a River Alive?

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