Is a River Alive?

Everyone who has ever found something to love in a river should find something to love in this book. It is a masterpiece ― The Economist

One of the big publishing events (if not the biggest) of 2025 – a new book by Robert Macfarlane . . . Personal as well as political, it’s almost as certain to shift readerly perspectives as it is to be a bestseller ― Observer, ‘Nonfiction to look forward to in 2025’

The book is a delight . . . So stirring, so surprising, so acute ― The Times

Is a River Alive? is a powerful synthesis of literature, activism and ethics, reshaping the way we perceive the natural world -- Alex Preston ― Observer

Whether fiction or non-fiction, all great books make you look at the world anew – and Macfarlane’s has changed the way I think about the natural world. In it, he explores the idea that rivers are not objects or resources but living beings, and by the end, that idea feels self-evident . . . A lyrical, persuasive invitation to look again at how we treat the systems that sustain us – and one of the year’s most necessary books ― I Paper, '10 Best Books of the Year'

The narrative pull is strong in this book. I kept wanting to go back to it. Macfarlane has yet again demonstrated his genius as an author in creating a book that is alive, that has personality, that talked to me. I was sad when it ended. It has flowed into my daily thoughts ever since, much like a river continues to flow into the sea ― Evening Standard

Beautiful, wild and wildly provocative ― New Scientist

Macfarlane confronts the realities of the living, beating heart of the riverine world . . . With crystalline clarity and force, Macfarlane confronts the gross failure of our existing laws to protect rivers from harm . . . Such ideas are brought to life by the quality of the writing, the evocation of mood and place, the raw smells and energies that accompany Macfarlane, whether on a gentle walk into a Cambridge wood, or hurtling with mortal speed down a Canadian rapid ― Financial Times

Impassioned and invigorating . . . Macfarlane is erudite and eclectic, and, though charismatic, doesn’t press his presence upon you. His books are adventurous, often involving truly remarkable companions; and at the sentence level no one could accuse him of painting by numbers . . . ― Spectator

Macfarlane is England’s best nature writer, and once again his prose sings, its rhythm mirroring the subject matter. It’s liquid (or riverine) – surging, eddying and magnificently alive ― The Spectator, 'Books of the Year II'