SHORTLISTED FOR BLACKWELL'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SHERBORNE PRIZE FOR TRAVEL WRITING 2026

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.

2025 BOOK OF THE YEAR ACCORDING TO SPECTATOR, I PAPER, ECONOMIST, ESQUIRE, TIME

• We started tracking this book on December 19, 2024.
• This book was £13.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 7 times in the past 454 days.
• The current price of this book is £6.99 last checked 2 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is £1.99.
• The lowest price to date was £1.99 last reached on September 5, 2025.
• This book has been £1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £13.99 last reached on December 19, 2024.
• This book has been £13.99 one time since we started tracking it.

• Publication Date: May 1, 2025
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 361 Pages
• File Size: 144 KB