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THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE
Drowned. Buried by sand. Decimated by plague. Plunged off a cliff.
This is the forgotten history of Britain's lost cities, ghost towns and vanished villages: our shadowlands.
'A beautiful book, truly original . . . It is a marvellous achievement.'
IAN MORTIMER, author of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
'Well researched, beautifully written and packed with interesting detail.'
CLAIRE TOMALIN
'An exquisitely written, moving and elegiac exploration.'
SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB
'Consistently interesting . . . Green's passion and historical vision bursts from the page, summoning up the past in surround sound and sensual prose.'
CAL FLYN, THE TIMES (author of Islands of Abandonment)
Historian Matthew Green travels across Britain to tell the forgotten history of our lost cities, ghost towns and vanished villages. Revealing the extraordinary stories of how these places met their fate - and exploring how they have left their mark on our landscape and our imagination - Shadowlands is a deeply evocative and dazzlingly original account of Britain's past.
'An eloquent tour of lost communities.'
PD SMITH, GUARDIAN
'A haunting, lyrical tour around the lost places of Britain.'
CHARLOTTE HIGGINS, author of Under Another Sky
'A miraculous work of resurrection, stinging in a perpetual present'.
IAIN SINCLAIR, author of The Gold Machine
'Beautifully written.' SUNDAY TIMES
'Startling.' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Splendid.' THE HERALD
'Compelling.' HISTORY TODAY
'Excellent.' THE SPECTATOR
'Fascinating.' DAILY MAIL
'Accomplished.' CAUGHT BY THE RIVER
'Outstanding.' MIRROR
About the author
Dr Matthew Green is a historian, writer and broadcaster with a doctorate from Oxford University. He has appeared in documentaries on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and has written historical features for the Guardian and Financial Times. He is the founder of Unreal City Audio, which produces immersive tours of London as live events, podcasts and apps. He is the author of London: A Travel Guide Through Time and Shadowlands: A Journey Through Lost Britain.
Summary
Whether evoking the Atlantis myth or Romantic ruins, an ancient Roman metropolis or the modern coastline, Shadowlands peers through the cracks of history at Britain's secret landscape.
Report
Shadowlands is so well researched, beautifully written and packed with interesting detail. Green is both historian and prophet, offering a warning we need to pay attention to . . . alarming and valuable. Claire Tomalin
