The Waterlands by Stephen Rutt (Hardcover)

From the award-winning author of The Seafarers and Wintering comes a fascinating exploration of the most miraculous substance on Earth: water.

It falls in a moment. When the heaviest droplets of ice can no longer be held aloft, the first raindrop slips from the sky and plunges through the damp, cold air, thawing as it falls. Splashing onto a sodden hillside, merging with the source of a river, it begins its journey.

The Waterlands tells a new story of water, revealing its natural rhythms and extraordinary power. Following the path of a single raindrop, the book journeys through a remarkable variety of waterscapes: river sources in upland moors, saltmarsh-fringed firths and estuaries, serene lochs, crystal-clear chalk streams, and blanket bogs that are both land and water―a thin layer of peat floating above millennia-old reserves.

As he travels through these landscapes where life flourishes, award-winning writer Stephen Rutt explores how water shapes the land and our lives―and how, in turn, we shape it.

Blending geography, ecology, climate writing, and social history, The Waterlands is a captivating retelling of the water cycle and an urgent call to protect our most essential natural resource.