Audiobooks by Robert MacFarlane

Brought to you by Penguin. 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. © Robert Macfarlane 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Robert MacFarlane (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Writers on Walks: A BBC Radio 3 Collection: 30 Reflections from Exploring on Foot

22 writers talk about their memorable excursions and the act of walking, and share their creative observations In these six series, taken from BBC Radio 3's The Essay, an array of novelists, poets, journalists and biographers chart the varied and inspiring walks they have taken around Britain and elsewhere. Here are treks taken at daybreak and after dark; in winter and in spring; in the footsteps of the past; and - in the case of Robert Macfarlane - along the ridges of the South Downs. Dawnwalks and Night Walks find Nicholas Shakespeare, Nicola Barker, Kamila Shamsie, Ian Sansom, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Owen Sheers, Janice Galloway and John Walsh taking early morning and late-night strolls around locations ranging from their back garden and local cemetery to Manhattan, Paris, Tasmania and the Antarctic. Springwalks and Winterwalks feature Michele Roberts, Ross Raisin, John Walsh, Kirsty Gunn, Philip Hoare, Deborah Levy, Christopher Hope, Scarlett Thomas, Erica Wagner and Owen Sheers, as they sample the transforming qualities of spring and the wonders of winter. From Poland and the Languedoc to Hampstead Heath and the Yorkshire Wolds, they delight in the details of the landscape and reflect on what it means to them. Strange Strolls sees Jenn Ashworth, Michael Donkor, Stephanie Victoire, Nat Segnit and Sophie Coulombeau embarking on walks of entertaining eccentricity, revisiting favourite places including Wandsworth Bridge, the Blue Ridge mountains of Appalachia and Ibiza. And in A Five-Day Journey, Robert Macfarlane walks the length of the South Downs in monsoon rain and in sunshine, discovering its chalk trails and its ghosts. He ponders the relationship between paths and stories; explores the poet Edward Thomas' love affair with tracks; considers the concept of the Aboriginal Australian songline; re-imagines the life of artist Eric Ravilious; and contemplates the sometimes eerie relationship between walking, collecting and creation. Intimate, evocative and immersive, these 30 uplifting programmes transport us to a wealth of wonderful places, and offer fascinating personal insight into the inner worlds of our walker-writers. Production credits Produced by Duncan Minshull, Ciaran Bermingham and Tim Dee First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the following dates: Dawnwalks Nicholas Shakespeare 28 March 2016 Nicola Barker 29 March 2016 Kamila Shamsie 30 March 2016 Ian Sansom 31 March 2016 Lucy Hughes-Hallett 1 April 2016 Night Walks Nicholas Shakespeare 27 October 2008 Owen Sheers 28 October 2008 Janice Galloway 29 October 2008 Kamila Shamsie 30 October 2008 John Walsh 31 October 2008 Springwalks Michele Roberts in Poznan 31 March 2014 Ross Raisin in the Yorkshire Wolds 1 April 2014 John Walsh 2 April 2014 Kirsty Gunn in Sutherland 3 April 2014 Philip Hoare in Sholing 4 April 2014 Winterwalks Deborah Levy on Hampstead Heath 18 February 2013 Christopher Hope in Languedoc 19 February 2013 Scarlett Thomas 20 February 2013 Erica Wagner 21 February 2013 Owen Sheers in Poland 22 February 2013 Strange Strolls Jenn Ashworth - The Abiding Mental Riches of Preston 10 February 2020 Michael Donkor - On Westminster Bridge 11 February 2020 Stephanie Victoire - Dark Hollow Falls 12 February 2020 Nat Segnit - The Other Ibiza 13 February 2020 Sophie Coulombeau - Walking Matilda 14 February 2020 A Five-Day Journey Marking 2 November 2009 Haunting 3 November 2009 Singing 4 November 2009 Flying 5 November 2009 Collecting 6 November 2009 © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Christopher Hope, Deborah Levy, Erica Wagner, Ian Samson, Jenn Ashworth, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Gunn, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Michael Donkor, Michèle Roberts, Nat Segnit, Nicholas Shakespeare, Nicola Barker, Owen Sheers, Philip Hoare, Robert MacFarlane, Robert Macfarlane, Ross Raisin, Scarlett Thomas, Sophie Coulombeau (Author), Various (Narrator)

Audiobook

Go Wild: A BBC nature collection

22 BBC radio programmes celebrating the great outdoors, introduced by Harriet Noble Spending time in nature is good for both our bodies and minds - but with our hectic lives (not to mention the unreliable British weather), it can be hard to get outside as much as we'd like. But fear not: we've selected some of BBC Radio 4's best nature documentaries to transport you to the great outdoors - and encourage you to take your own trip into the wild. Discover the tranquility of canoeing down the River Waveney; go rambling in the countryside with Clare Balding; explore al fresco cooking with the Food Programme team and learn the history of Cornwall's colourful flower fields. Or why not go surfing in Scotland, off-grid in Wales or on a journey of a lifetime with Paralympian cyclist Karen Darke? These captivating programmes will let you experience the sights and sounds of nature - from an oak woodland to a rainforest canopy and a rock pool - and introduce you to some remarkable naturalists, such as filmmaker Roger Deakin, author Robert Macfarlane, pioneering ornithologist Emma Turner, writer and poet Nan Shepherd, and perfumer and mountain photographer Walter Poucher. Whether you're an intrepid explorer, a weekend micro-adventurer or simply a nature lover, you're sure to be inspired - so step away from your screen, get out into the open air and enjoy the beauty of the natural world. Contents Cigarette on the Waveney - presented by Roger Deakin Ramblings: In Search of the Old Ways with Robert Macfarlane - presented by Clare Balding Open Country: Nan Shepherd's Cairngorms - presented by Helen Mark The Food Programme: Outdoor Cooking - presented by Sheila Dillon and Simon Parkes One to One: Isabel Hardman on nature and depression Ramblings: George Monbiot in search of the wild - presented by Clare Balding The Life Scientific: Sky at Night with Maggie Aderin-Pocock- presented by Jim Al-Khalili Open Country: Off Grid in Mid-Wales - presented by Ian Marchant A Guide to Coastal Wildlife: Rock Pools - presented by Brett Westwood and Phil Gates Sound recordist: Chris Watson Soundstage: The Oak Woodland Sound recordist: Chris Watson Costing the Earth: Cycle City - presented by Tom Heap Open Country: Surfing on Scotland's North Coast - presented by Helen Mark Journey of a Lifetime - Karen Darke: From Source to Sea via Me Nature: The Rainforest Canopy Recorded by wildlife cameraman John Aitchison Nature: Emma Turner - A Life in the Reeds Sound recordist: Chris Watson The Flower Fields - presented by Michael Bird The Perfumed Mountaineer - presented by Hayden Lorimer Living World: Winter Seashore - presented by Trai Anfield Open Country: The Boat Builders of Pin Mill - presented by Helen Mark Ramblings: Bonding Walks: Stiperstones, Shropshire - presented by Clare Balding Open Country: Somerset Wassail - presented by Helen Mark Winter Starlings Sound recordist: Chris Watson © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Clare Balding, George Monbiot, Harriet Noble, Robert MacFarlane, Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin (Author), Clare Balding, Harriet Noble, Jim Al-Khalili, Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin, Tom Heap (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lost Sounds

Brought to you by Penguin. Woodland, moorland, sea... Great Britain is home to vast array of beautiful natural settings, each with its own unique sounds. The award-winning audiobook for The Lost Words and its sister, The Lost Spells, showcased the immersive power of a natural soundscape. Compiled by renowned wildlife recordist, Chris Watson, these soundscapes acted as the backdrop and setting for beautiful spells, whilst possessing an energy and life of their own. Now, these aural glimpses into the natural world, be it an adder in grass or an egret submerging into the swell of the ocean, are brought together to star in their own right. Complemented by a foreword from renowned writer Robert Macfarlane, beautiful artwork by Jackie Morris and a fascinating 'making of' interview with sound recordist Chris Watson, The Lost Sounds is an immersive natural listening experience, taking reader across the UK through the sounds of nature. © Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris, Chris Watson 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Chris Watson, Jackie Morris, Robert MacFarlane, Robert Macfarlane (Author), Robert Macfarlane (Narrator)

Audiobook

Underland: A Deep Time Journey

Robert MacFarlane, Robert Macfarlane (Author), Roy Mcmillan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Landmarks

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Landmarks, a fascinating exploration of the relationship between language and landscapes by Robert Macfarlane, read by Roy McMillan. Words are grained into our landscapes, and landscapes are grained into our words. Landmarks is about the power of language to shape our sense of place. It is a field guide to the literature of nature, and a glossary containing thousands of remarkable words used in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to describe land, nature and weather. Travelling from Cumbria to the Cairngorms, and exploring the landscapes of Roger Deakin, J. A. Baker, Nan Shepherd and others, Robert Macfarlane shows that language, well used, is a keen way of knowing landscape, and a vital means of coming to love it. The audiobook version contains an exclusive bonus chapter - a recording of Finlay MacLeod (a novelist, historian, broadcaster, archivist and one of the dedicatees of Landmarks) reading words and definitions from his Peat Glossary for the Isle of Lewis. This hoard of rare and evocative terms was one of the inspiring documents for the book. Finlay's voice is also used as a divider between chapters; and the other glossaries in the text are themselves bracketed with appropriate sound effects.

Robert MacFarlane (Author), Roy McMillan (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

From the acclaimed author of The Wild Places comes an engrossing exploration of walking and thinking. In this exquisitely written book, Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge, England, home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove roads, and sea paths that crisscross both the British landscape and its waters and territories beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, and of pilgrimage and ritual. Told in Macfarlane's distinctive voice, The Old Ways folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology, and literature. His walks take him from the chalk downs of England to the bird islands of the Scottish northwest, from Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas. Along the way he crosses paths with walkers of many kinds-wanderers, pilgrims, guides, and artists. Above all this is a book about walking as a journey inward and the subtle ways we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move. Macfarlane discovers that paths offer not just a means of traversing space but of feeling, knowing, and thinking.

Robert MacFarlane (Author), Robin Sachs (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Robert MacFarlane's The Old Ways, a major new book from one of Britain's finest nature writers about landscape and the human heart. Read by Roy McMillan. In The Old Ways Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove-roads and sea paths that form part of a vast network of routes criss-crossing the British landscape and its waters, and connecting them to the continents beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, of pilgrimage and ritual, and of songlines and their singers. Above all this is a book about people and place: about walking as a reconnoitre inwards, and the subtle ways in which we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move. Told in Macfarlane's distinctive and celebrated voice, the book folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology and literature. His tracks take him from the chalk downs of England to the bird-islands of the Scottish northwest, and from the disputed territories of Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas. Along the way he walks stride for stride with a 5000-year-old man near Liverpool, follows the 'deadliest path in Britain', sails an open boat out into the Atlantic at night, and crosses paths with walkers of many kinds - wanderers, wayfarers, pilgrims, guides, shamans, poets, trespassers and devouts. He discovers that paths offer not just means of traversing space, but also of feeling, knowing and thinking. The old ways lead us unexpectedly to the new, and the voyage out is always a voyage inwards.

Robert MacFarlane (Author), Roy McMillan (Narrator)

Audiobook