Underland cover art

Underland

A Deep Time Journey

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Underland

By: Robert Macfarlane
Narrated by: Roy McMillan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for the Best Nonfiction Audiobook at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2020.

A Sunday Times bestseller

Winner of the Wainwright Prize 2019

Winner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of The Year Award 2020

A Guardian Best Book of the 21st Century

From the internationally bestselling, prize-winning author of Landmarks, The Lost Words and The Old Ways

In Underland, Robert Macfarlane takes us on a journey into the worlds beneath our feet. From the ice-blue depths of Greenland's glaciers, to the underground networks by which trees communicate, from Bronze Age burial chambers to the rock art of remote Arctic sea-caves, this is a deep-time voyage into the planet's past and future. Global in its geography, gripping in its voice and haunting in its implications, Underland is a work of huge range and power, and a remarkable new chapter in Macfarlane's long-term exploration of landscape and the human heart.

Shortlisted for the Rsl Ondaatje Prize 2020

©2019 Robert Macfarlane (P)2019 Penguin Audio Earth Sciences Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Travel Writing & Commentary Conservation Polar Region Inspiring Thought-Provoking Natural History Sailing

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Critic reviews

"He is the great nature writer, and nature poet, of this generation." (Wall Street Journal)
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This was beautifully written and narrated. I became an instant Robert Macfarlane and Roy McMillan fan. I will now listen to all his books.

Beautiful!

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A beautiful looked the oft forgotten world below our feet. Thoughtfully written and wonderfully read.

Beautiful

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I loved the breadth and depth of the writing. and enjoy the poetic and romantic-like in part, the science and the mysticism and the personal anecdotes and metaphors that make you think about our own relationship with nature and the underland. Not the biggest fan of the narrator was a little too theatrical and not conversational enough.

A must listen for nature lover, explorers and stewards of the land

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I feel quite exhausted, as if i had joined the author in his (insane) journeys across glaciers, out to remote icy islands, then down into catacombs and other terrifying constricted spaces deep in the earth.
Despite covering some seriously heavy material on microbiology, geology and nuclear physics (and lots more besides), his eloquent writing style makes you feel as if you know what’s going on.
I kept a notepad to hand to google things later, altho spellings can be tricky.
It’s a fascinating book, with faultless narration, but one to take slowly as it’s quite intense.
And it’s not just about the natural world but takes in history, art, politics and poetry.
The author is erudite and astute but has a lightness of touch with some laugh-out-loud descriptions of places and people.
Amazing book which I shall dip in to again.

Epic. Sobering. Wonderful.

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I loved this book and feel like I need to start again to really take it in as it as densely packed with treasures and the earth it praises.

Thought provoking and powerful

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Unique, wonderful and thought provoking in every way, full of unexpected beauties and terrors - past, present and future. Superbly narrated.

A book everyone should read

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My first audio book, an exquisite treat. Wonderful observances and learned discussion, wonderfully brought to life by the text reader. I only hope all audio books are like this one!

Exquisite

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i imagined this book would be intresting but had no idea how utterly captivating it would be.

first book iv given 5 starts across the board

Amazing

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This is a beautifully written book which describes Earth's labyrinthine underworld. It is part science and part poetry. It also contains many of the author's own personal journeys and the various characters he encounters.
We learn about the people he meets and their perspectives rather than seeing them as simply providers of quotes. They are scientists, specialists, cavers, outsiders, campaigners and weirdos.
There is a range of topics covered including cave paintings, ancient burial sites, fungi networks, underground cities, nuclear waste, dark matter and mythology. There are many stories of people who did not return from their underland odyssey. The content is compelling and fascinating.
Sometimes the reader feels physically on the journey with the author as he abseils down caverns or squeezes through some claustrophobic spaces. We think he will get stuck if he doesn't fall to his death.
Other times we explore history, memory, literature and fear of the dark underland and it's impact on the human psyche.
The book is a modern day epic which took the author over ten years to write. It is rich, dark and deeply personal, concluding with the author resurfacing, reflecting on his journey in the company of his young son. The book is beautifully unsettling.
Roy McMillan is faultless in the narration providing emotion and tonality.

A beautifully unsettling modern epic.

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This is a fascinating insight into the hidden world beneath us. The writing is incredible for a factual book - poetic, evocative and insightful.

Remarkable book

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