num_pages: 385
description: A formidable brave and important book Robert Macfarlane Who owns England? Behind this simple question lies this countrys oldest and best-kept secret. This is the history of how Englands elite came to own our land and an inspiring manifesto for how to open up our countryside once more. This book has been a long time coming. Since 1086 in fact. For centuries Englands elite have covered up how they got their hands on millions of acres of our land by constructing walls burying surveys and more recently sheltering behind offshore shell companies. But with the dawn of digital mapping and the Freedom of Information Act its becoming increasingly difficult for them to hide. Trespassing through tightly-guarded country estates ecologically ravaged grouse moors and empty Mayfair mansions writer and activist Guy Shrubsole has used these 21st century tools to uncover a wealth of never-before-seen information about the people who own our land to create the most comprehensive map of land ownership in England that has ever been made public. From secret military islands to tunnels deep beneath London Shrubsole unearths truths concealed since the Domesday Book about who is really in charge of this country  at a time when Brexit is meant to be returning sovereignty to the people. Melding history politics and polemic he vividly demonstrates how taking control of land ownership is key to tackling everything from the housing crisis to climate change  and even halting the erosion of our very democracy. Its time to expose the truth about who owns England  and finally take back our green and pleasant land.
language: English
title: Who Owns England?: How We Lost Our Green and Pleasant Land, and How to Take It Back
publisher: William Collins